In love with a criminal
by AdennaN
Summary: After one decision, Sakura hates her life. Would her life become better or worse after meeting a criminal and falling in love with him ? Read to find out more. -SasuSaku- NejiTen ShikaIno NaruHina Rated M for language and lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **Hey hey. I know I already have a story on going but I just had this idea and I had to write it. Hope you will like it, this is something different from the other one.**

 **This is someones inner**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

* phone ring, message, voice mail, email*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

Enjoy!

Lots of thanks and hugs to my beta-reader _**notverycreativename**_ for helping me with the story.

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

It was cold outside and inside.. inside her heart. Her soul was freezing. There was light in the room, but in her mind everything was dark. She only saw black- it was consuming her. It started raining and he was getting all wet. It was raining inside of her, too. There was water pouring down her face- not from the skies, but from her eyes.

"Stop fucking lying to me!" she yelled. She didn't know she had the voice to say something aloud. She didn't even know who was she yelling at. Was she yelling at the man in front of her or to herself? Because she kept telling herself that everything will be alright but fuck.. it wasn't.

"You stop yelling at me woman. The neighbors will hear you." said the man in front of her. He looked calm. Maybe just a little pissed. He didn't have a right to be pissed but she had every right to be so. Cold eyes bore into her wet emerald ones.

"You don't tell me to shut up!" she yelled again. Anger in her voice, tears in her eyes… Why was she crying? She didn't love this man. No, she doesn't. Yes, she cared about him. Yes, she wanted to feel more but now.. no. Now she is mentally cursing the day she met him - him and his family. Everything was bad, but it became worse after she met him. "I thought you wanted this.. I.. I thought you wanted me God dammit!"

"Sakura" he knew what he let her think. He planned this at first, but now.. he didn't like the situation either. She just had to accept the situation, like he did.

"Fuck you! I don't want to hear it. This is the third time you fucker! The third fucking time! I'm sick of you and your whores." It was useless to say anything. He always did what he wanted to and he knew she will never leave. She just.. couldn't. Where would she live? How would she survive? Marrying this man.. she knew, was a bad thing from the start but it's too late now. It's too late for her.

"Stop yelling Sakura! I don't like repeating myself." He went to her and grabbed her chin. "You are my wife, they are just some whores." He gave her a smile and bowed his head to kiss her as she moved her head from his hold and away from his lips.

"I may be your wife, but I will not be one of your whores." Her tears stopped and she was full of anger. This man.. this man and his family destroyed her. They destroyed her life. Maybe she was stupid at first, blind.. maybe she had hope that this could work and that everything will be perfect. But she was wrong.. so wrong. She accepted a lot of things but this time.. this time she will not let him control her.

He grabbed her face with his big hand with a little too much force and bowed his head so that he could look straight in her eyes. She flinched from the contact and gasped a little but her eyes never left his. She kept looking into his cold and heartless eyes. She didn't want to let him think she was a coward. No.. she wasn't a coward. She just took the wrong decisions. His other hand went to the hem of her blouse; she pushed him away with much force she had left.

"Stay away from me." It was almost a whisper but he heard it and didn't like it.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You're my wife Sakura. You're mine and only mine." He didn't have feelings for her, but he wouldn't deny that she was indeed beautiful. "And if I want to touch my wife now, I will - and nothing will stop me."

Sakura felt her heart starting to pound faster. "No. Not anymore." She looked straight in his eyes that looked dangerously back at her." I am and I will be your wife like we settled 2 years ago but.. but I will not be one of your whores. Go touch your sluts if you want to touch someone. Like you always have.." and she turned her back to leave when she felt him grab her arm brutally and turned her to face him.

"You leave when I let you leave!" he told her. He wasn't a man to yell. No, she never heard him yell, but he had such a cold look in his eyes.. and there was poison in his voice.

"Fuck you Sasori! Let go of me!" she kept struggling until her face snapped to her right, fire and pain burning in her left cheek. She immediately felt hot tears in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of him.

She didn't dare to look him in the eyes, but she felt him loose his hold on her arm. She took the advantage to turn her back to him and run out the door. She ran fast; as fast as her legs could carry her. Ran outside in the cold and refreshing rain. Calm words could be heard in the air.. his voice - but she didn't stop. She could already feel herself getting cold; she didn't care. She didn't even know where she was running. When she would go back, if she would know to go back.. if.. if she would want to go back. That bastard slapped her. Now, she couldn't think.. she just kept running in the dark, cold rain pouring over her small frame. Where was she going? She didn't have a place to go.. not anymore.. not now. Her heart was beating like crazy; her breath harsh and fast; her legs cried for her to stop but she didn't. Running.. she wasn't used to it but it felt so good now that she just couldn't stop. Her eyes are red from the now stopped tears and her flushed cheek was aching. Her body trembled. She couldn't help it.. she just hated her damn life.

 **2 years ago**

They all sat at the table, food and drinks covering every inch of it. Two families, and one decision to make. "I accept" Everyone at the table looked at the 18 years old girl that had a determined look.

"Darling, you don't have to do th-" her mother tried to talk, but she wanted to do this. She wanted to help her family. She wanted a better life for them and she couldn't back down now, when she could do something for them.

"No, I don't have to, but I want to." Said the pink-haired girl looking at her parents that gave her a worried look. "I accept to marry Sasori, if you accept to help my parents with money and everything they need every month. They are not the type after money and they are very modest. You don't have to worry about it with a family as rich as yours; it wouldn't even make a difference in your account. " She eyed every family member from the other side of the table.

"You are a beautiful woman Sakura. I am sure that you are smart too." The brunet man in front of her said to her in a very calm way. That's the way they talked. Every member of that damn family. They were always calm. "I agree with what you want because you are right about the money, and because you will look very good next to my son. Sasori needs to have a very good image." Sakura just nodded her head.

"So, then" a redhead woman started to talk " we accept to give your parents a good amount of money every month- if you marry my son and be by his side until death. If you leave him we will stop giving your parents money and throw you in the streets." Sakura could feel the threat in her voice but she wanted to keep her calm.

"I won't leave him as long as you pay my parents as you said." She needed to do this; for her family; and for a better life.

"We will pay them until they die." The brunet talked again. Sakura felt that something won't end very well but this has to be better than how they lived until now.

"Sakura, please, think-" Sakura's father tried to stop her this time, but Sakura already made a decision.

"Father, mother..." started Sakura eyeing her parents with a small smile on her lips "everything will be alright. We don't have to leave like this anymore. You don't have to live like this anymore. " after some seconds her smile disappeared and -with a serious look- she started talking to the other family " I accept. When is the weeding?"

The other pair of parents smiled at her, while her own gave her a worrying look. Sasori, the one that was going to be her husband in a short amount of time gave her a small smile; but his eyes... Sakura didn't like something in those eyes. That was the day her life was supposed to become better.. hers and her parents. But fate wasn't with her that day, and things didn't go how she thought or wished they would.

One week later, Sakura and Sasori got married. It was fine at first. Sasori's parents kept their word and gave her parents the amount of money they promised. Sasori himself.. he wasn't that bad. He was a good-looking man; and even if he wasn't home too much because of work, he was pretty quiet and was nice to her. She went with him from time to time at important events; he sometimes bought her dinner. For a moment, she was really happy even if the man she married didn't love her and she didn't love him either. She was happy and her parents weren't poor any longer. That was good enough for her.

A half of year later, her parents house burnt completely to ashes with her parents in it. Since then, her life kept getting worse and worse. Sasori didn't came home a lot in night and never gave an explanation. She was rich now, but poor inside.

A half of year later, her parents house burnt complete to ashes with her parents in it. And since then, her life was worse and worse. Sasori didn't come home a lot of nights and never gave an explanation. She was rich now, but poor inside.

 **Now**

The rain and her tears were now one and the same on her flushed face. She wanted to run away for so long, but she just couldn't. She didn't have any place to go. Now, she thought, maybe she will go back… but for the moment, she will just run and run until her legs won't let her take another step. She was running with all she had as she hit a wall. Sakura was ready for the impact with the cement beneath her when the stone wall took a hold of her, wrapping his strong arms around her petite, frozen and exhausted frame.

She was lost for a few seconds until she realized that she didn't fall backwards- and suddenly she didn't felt cold anymore. She opened her eyes slowly; darkness and rain blurred her vision. She couldn't see much- a big frame shading her, a man for sure- holding her to his hard and wet chest. Some dark colored bangs were covering his eyes looking at her.

"Running on a cold, rainy night like this isn't such a good idea. Especially in these streets." she heard the voice say. It sounded harsh and without any feelings, but to her.. it sounded heavenly.

TBC

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 **A/N : This was chapter one. I promise it will become more interesting. I don't know yet how long I will make the next chapters. Curious to know what happens next ? Please review.**

 **Xoxo, Adenna**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** **First of all I must tell you that I'm working on chapter 5 from 'A complicated life'. I didn't forgot about it, it just takes me more time. Please be patient. Sorry if I make any grammar mistakes. So chapter 2 here we go..**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

* phone ring, message, voice mail, email*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

Enjoy!

Lots of thanks and hugs to my incredible beta-reader **notverycreativename** for helping me with the story. You're the best!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Chapter 2**

 **Last time:**

She was lost for a few seconds until she realized that she didn't fall backwards and suddenly she didn't felt cold anymore. She opened her eyes slowly, the dark and rain blurring her vision. She couldn't see much.. a big frame shading her, a man for sure.. holding her to his hard and wet chest. Some dark colored bangs covering his eyes that were looking at her.

"Running on a cold, rainy night like this isn't such a good idea. Especially on these streets." She heard a voice say. It sounded harsh and without any feelings, but to her.. it sounded heavenly.

* * *

Sakura was at a loss of words. She blinked a few times to see better and she could swear that she saw an elegant eyebrow rise. She didn't know why but she felt safe in this stranger's arms. Sakura's head went down and she closed her eyes, a soft sigh leaving her trembling lips. Her arms started to go up until her palms were on his strong chest that was right in front of her face. After a few moments she started to feel ashamed of her reaction to this unknown man; she took a big step back, forcing her tiny body out of his grasp, and then she detached her arms fast from his body. She kept avoiding his eyes.

"I.. uhm. Sorry.. uhm, sir." Her throat was aching and panic started to take over her. What if this man was going to hurt her? She didn't know where she was, and she was too tired to start running again. Sakura didn't look up, but started to take small steps back. Maybe she had a chance to escape. Her body froze and her heart stopped for a second when she felt something grab her forearm. Her head shot up. There, on a cold rainy night, somewhere on an unknown street, under the faint glow of a lighting pole, her emerald eyes met onyx ones.

"What are you doing here?" she heard him ask on the background. She didn't pay attention to his words because she was too distracted by his beautiful eyes that seemed to shine in the dim light. She came back to reality when she felt him squeeze her hand a little harder. She blinked twice. Her throat tightened and she swallowed hard.

"Look I.. uhm, I'm sorry I bumped into you. I really didn't mean to. So if you please let me go..." she tried to take her hand out of his grasp but it was in vain "uhh, please," she begged looking at her arm. Her head snapped up again when he talked.

"Calm down. I won't hurt you." His voice made Sakura believe him but when she looked into his eyes, they said otherwise. There was a moment of silence, and Sakura took the opportunity to fully comprehend the man in front of her. Now that she took a better look, he was really handsome. Dark onyx eyes, perfectly straight nose, aristocratic face, well-defined jaw, incredible white teeth that could be seen behind of his thin set of lips- all framing a gorgeous smirk. _He's.. smirking? Wow.._

"I could say you're an interesting one. A moment ago you were freaking out like I would rape or something. Now I think I should be afraid that you will rape me." Sakura saw his smirk going wider and she felt her cheeks burn with shame even in the cold rain.

"I.. um, I didn't.. I mean, I really-" Sakura hated when she started to shutter like some 5 year-old. The stranger cut her off.

"Whatever. Come on." Still holding her hand, he turned around and started to pull her after him.

"Wha.. hey, wait. Let go of me!" She tried to resist but he was too strong. He didn't say anything just continued to pull her arm, dragging her after him. "Where are you taking me?" Silence. "Answer me you-"

"There is a motel with a bar on the corner. You can warm yourself up and stay there until the rain stops.." he paused a little, and looked at her over his shoulder. Then he moved his head forward again and spoke "I'm sure that you have no idea where you are either, so you might as well leave in the morning when you can find your way back home." Sakura eyes widened a little in surprise but after she thought about it.. _He's right, I have no idea where I am, so I better spend the night there and leave in the morning. Maybe Sasori won't figure out that I was gone all night._ _Yea sure, because I'm a very lucky person.._ Then something else went through her mind.

"But, I don't have any-" _money_ she tried to say but it seems like the man loved to interrupt her.

"Would you shut up already?" it was a question, but to Sakura it seemed more like an order. She sighed and didn't say anything else. She just hoped that he wouldn't do anything to her.

The stranger smirked with satisfaction. _Finally she stopped talking. Hm, annoying._

Sakura couldn't stop thinking that she was insane. She ran from home in this shitty weather, she didn't even look where she was going, and bumped in some stranger who now is pulling her to some unknown motel. Sakura fought with herself, _I'm insane for sure._ _At least he is hot. But.. he could be a drug dealer or some bag guy. Stop being paranoid. He's just a nice guy who wants to help you._

Sakura was caught in her thoughts when she bumped into him again. He turned around to face her. When she gave him a questionable look, he just turned his head in front of them.

"We're here," he said. Without another word, he dragged her in.

Sakura didn't like this place. The people seemed dangerous and she immediately felt fear rise inside of her. They stopped at the bar and sat down. After some seconds a woman that showed too much skin- at least Sakura thought- appeared in front of them, eyeing the couple suspiciously.

The strange man that helped her spoke before Sakura had the chance to open her mouth. "Whiskey..." he eyed Sakura with the corner of his eyes, "for both." The woman nodded her head in boredom and left to prepare their drinks.

"Um, thanks, but I usually don't drink." It wasn't that Sakura never drank alcohol, it's just that she drinks so rarely. When she does, it's typically wine or champagne... nothing as strong as whiskey.

"My treat, I choose." He said just as the woman put both of their drinks on the counter.

Sakura eyed the glass of whiskey, then the man who now turned in his seat to face her. His left elbow was on the counter. He had his own glass in his right hand... then her glass... handing it to her without so much as a word. She really didn't know if she should drink whiskey- especially with a stranger, in a strange bar after she ran away from her home. She glanced over to see him rolling his eyes at her hesitation and sighed.

"Ok, fine. One drink." She raised the glass to her dry lips and took a sip of the alcoholic drink. She immediately made a face. The man to her left smirked.

"You'll get used to it," he said amused. Sakura turned her head to glare at him. Then, he saw it. Sakura eyes widened; she flinched when he reached up and touched lightly on her now bruised cheek. "This looks fresh. It's this why you were running, to right?" He looked straight in her bright shocked eyes. She swollen, her dry throat didn't permit her to speak, so turned her head away. Suddenly she had the urge to finish her glass in one gulp.

"No! I.. Just mind your own business," she almost yelled at him. She wasn't mad he asked about it, she was angrier at herself. That bastard slapped her and she shouldn't have run away like a coward. She should have kicked his future out of him. "Do you have a name?" she turned around and narrowed her eyes at him.

The man in front of her raised his eyebrows. He was surprised how fast this woman could change her mood. He raised his own glass to his lips and took a big gulp of his drink. He started again, "I'm curios…" Sakura raised a pink eyebrow. "Who did it? An alcoholic father, a slut mother..." Sakura's hands started to shake slightly. She couldn't control her temper when she was reminded about her scumbag husband. "Maybe…" she clenched her teeth, " an abusive husband". She couldn't stand this subject anymore.

"Shut up! Nobody hit me- but I will kick your ass if you don't stop with the questions." She angrily grabbed her glass and drank all the whiskey with one big gulp, a drop oozing at the corner of her mouth. She slammed the glass on the counter and wiped her mouth with back of her hand. Right after she turned her whole body to face him, crossed her legs and glared at him.

 _What an interesting woman,_ he thought as he smirked and finished his glass too. Then he made a sign with his hand to the waitress. She came right after "Can I get you anything else?" she asked, looking at him.

"Refill both with whiskey," he said pointing with his long finger at their now empty glasses.

The waitress rolled her eyes when Sakura yelled after her, "Make it 2 glasses for me!" He turned his head to look at her with a surprised look.

"Are you sure Pinky?" he asked. He didn't know what invoked him use that nickname, but he was sure it was her hair's fault.

"The name is Sakura, you asshole! And i want the whole bottle!" yelled Sakura earning surprised looks around her.

The man in front of her raised his eyebrows for a few moments, then turned his head to the waitress that was waiting for a final order. "You heard her, bring us a full bottle." She gave him a surprised look, but she left to retrieve it.

When he turned to face her again, she had an evil smile on her face and she was looking right into his onyx eyes. He snickered when he heard her say "Your treat, right?".

In the meantime, the waitress arrived with their bottle of whiskey and placed it on the counter. They both eyed it before he grabbed the bottle with one and with the other, grabbed Sakura's hand that held her glass. He filled hers to the brim, then started filling his before he placed the bottle back on the counter. Sakura recoiled from the unexpected contact and eyed him with interest. She knew that drinking with a stranger isn't the best idea, but she made so many bad decisions in her life that one more won't do anything. She blinked when he talked, "Yea, my treat." They locked eyes, and after the small sound of glass meeting glass, they both emptied their cups.

They didn't realize that almost two hours had passed since they entered the bar; or that they already started a second bottle. They don't remember talking either, just that they kept drinking and drinking and looking at each other for a good while without even blinking. They didn't say a word, but their eyes talked more than words ever could. Sakura kept smiling and giggling to herself like that was the best day of her life… Her drinking partner thought that his facial muscles would ache after keeping his smirk on for so long, but.. he just couldn't stop, like his mouth has been clenched like that. And after all the drinking and ogling, their eyes met again; then, in that moment, they knew they both wanted the same thing.

Sakura bit her lip, closed her eyes for a few seconds, and opened them. All you could see in the couple was lust and determination. "Go take the key. I'll wait for you in front of the stairs."

The man greedily smirked- it was the same thing he did the last two hours. Before Sakura could turn around, he grabbed her arm and slammed her to his chest. When she looked up at him with those emerald eyes that were full of lust, he knew what he wants to hear for the rest of the night- until morning.

"Sasuke". She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. He bowed his head down, lips touching her earlobe and whispered in her ear, "My name is Sasuke... and you will never forget it after you'll moan and yell it all night."

Her throat went dry and her heart skipped a beat, body trembling with excitement. Before she could react, he was already asking for a key. In that moment, Sakura knew that her life was full of mistakes, but this one will be the best mistake she ever made.

TBC

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 **A/N : Chapter 2 doneeee. So I really hope you liked it because it's 6 am and I wrote all night on this. Please review and tell me what you think. All the chapters will have 2000-3000 words. Hope it's not too short for you. Ready for some lemons? Till next time..**

 **Xoxo, Adenna**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I really need to thank you guys for your faves and follows. I really really appreciate it. I'm terribly sorry that I posted this after so much time. I was really caught in with school. Warning for LEMONs. This is my first lemon so I hope it will be good.**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

* phone ring, message, voice mail, email*

Disclaimer : I do NOT own Naruto

Lots of thanks and hugs to my incredible beta-reader **notverycreativename** for helping me with the story. You're the best!

Enjoy!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

The mysterious man smirked; it was the same thing he's done for the past two hours. Before Sakura could turn around, he grabbed her arm and slammed her to his chest. When she looked up at him with those emerald eyes full of lust, he knew that he wanted to hear her moans for the rest of the night, until morning. "Sasuke." She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. The man bowed his head down, lips touching her earlobe and heavenly voice whispering in her ear. "My name is Sasuke... and you will never forget it after you moan and yell it all night..."

Sakura's throat went dry and her heart skipped a beat, body trembling with excitement, and before she could react, he was already asking for a key. In that moment, Sakura knew that her life was full of mistakes, but this one would be the best mistake she'd ever make.

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

Sakura didn't know when it happened; her mind went blank when he grabbed her tiny waist and slowly pushed her upstairs, to a place she would later call heaven. Her mind only returned to earth when she heard a short click of a door opening in front of her. When Sasuke turned around and looked deep into Sakura's eyes, her heart started to race. She knew there is no way back- not that she wanted to.

The corner of Sasuke's mouth raised a little as one hand pushed the door, while the other showed her the way in. "Ladies first?" he asked in such a sexy way that Sakura immediately felt butterflies… Fuck, it felt like a swarm of them. She blinked and took a few steps inside the room hesitantly. Her body didn't have time react when the door went shut behind her. Before Sakura knew it she was trapped between the wall and a hard body with no escape. Her mouth released a small gasp from the sudden impact.

Sasuke bent down his head, staring into her large eyes. They didn't switch the light on; there was only a lonely little light pole showing a slit through the window, and that was enough for them. "This," Sasuke said with a barely audible voice as his hand softly touched Sakura's bruised cheek, making her flinch a little. "I'll make you forget about this, Sakura." The way he purred her name made her stomach tightened and her core wet.

"Make me forget my own name..." she said in low voice, and Sasuke grinned. He wasn't the type to take commands, but he made an exception this time. His thin lips landed on hers and her body immediately reacted, her lips moving on his with passion she didn't know she possessed. There wasn't a soft, shy kiss. No... they were too lusty for that thing right now. Biting, sucking, licking. Sakura forgot how incredible it felt to kiss someone, especially with a hottie like Sasuke. One of Sasuke's arms snaked around her waist, pushing her into him more, while the other went from her thigh slowly up over her ribs and finally covering one of her breasts. He squeezed a little at the mound that he barely cupped with one hand, making Sakura release a small moan. That was all he needed to enter her cavern and take dominance over her mouth, their tongues dancing with passion until their lungs screamed for air. When they pulled apart Sakura's eyes were still closed, her parted lips exhaling tiny pants.

Sasuke's hand that was around her waist went up her back under her blouse; the other leaving her breast to grab the hem of it. In a blink, Sakura's blouse was on the floor and her cheeks flushed. Then she felt a pair of hands making their way up on her thighs until they reach her rear, squeezed it once before they went back on her thighs and lifted her up into his hard chest. Sakura instantly locked her legs around him, arms hugging his neck like she was holding for dear life. She felt him moving and in a blink her back hit the mattress. Sasuke was between her legs, covering her greedy body; his lips attacking her neck, sucking and licking. He raised his head from the crock of her neck when he felt her struggling under him, just to realize she was desperately trying to get rid of his t-shirt. He grinned and raised his hands up just enough so she could pull the cloth over his head and arms. Sakura's eyes darted to his well-toned chest and abs, and she felt a sudden urge to wander her hands all over him. Sasuke saw the glint in her eyes and smirked down at her.

"Like what you see?" he asked her. Sakura's eyes shot up to his face in a second, a little embarrassment visible on her flushed face. Sasuke mentally chuckled when she turn her face to her right- like a shy little girl- only to get a little surprised when her hands darted up on his abs. She touched them slowly, like she was trying to memorize every little centimeter of his 6-pack. Sasuke watched her with interest as her hands climbed up his chest, then shoulders, and down onto his back. Sakura continued until she couldn't reach lower; then, with force that came out of nowhere, slammed his body into hers- her lips capturing his in a passionate kiss.

Sasuke was a little taken aback with this woman's behavior. One second she was all shy and ashamed, and the other she was acting like she had all the control. _Interesting woman indeed._ _She has a strange flame inside of her_ , thought Sasuke. He liked the change in her behavior; it was like two ferocious lions fighting for control.

He grabbed the middle of her bra and ripped it off roughly, throwing it somewhere on the floor. He could swear he heard a small sound of protest from Sakura, but Sasuke ignored it as he lowered his head and captured one nipple between his lips. The action made Sakura moan instantly. Sasuke's free hand began caging her other breast. Sakura's hands locked in his hair, her back arching into him, her already wet core rubbing against his arousal. She heard him growl before he bite her nipple a little too hard. She gasped and tightened her hands in his smooth hair.

Sakura released soft moans when suddenly Sasuke abandoned her body. Her head snapped up to see why did he stop from doing whatever was making her feel so good. Just as she made eye contact with the aroused man above her, Sasuke's eyes lowered. She felt his hands unbutton her jeans then grip the hem of them along with her panties. Sasuke's hands started to go down pulling the clothes along, his fingers brushing against her soft skin. Sakura felt a shiver go down her spine while Sasuke left hot burning skin behind.

Her face started to flush a dark shade of red when she saw him exploring her naked body with his keen eyes. When he raised his eyes to look into hers, her hands went fast to her face trying to hide her embarrassment. _Why is he looking at me like this?_ _Well, duuuh, we're sexyyyy. Now stop acting like a 12 years old girl!_ She snapped back from her thoughts when she felt his hands grab hers and bringing them down from her face. He looked deep in her wide eyes then he tilted his head down to her ear.

"You're gorgeous," he whispered. "No need to be ashamed." His words made Sakura's face to burn and the way every word rolled out on his tongue made her stomach tighten. She let out the air she didn't know she was holding before a smile made its way on her swollen lips. Sasuke raised his head just then, his forever smirk on, to see Sakura smiling like some kind of lunatic. _Ok, what is she thinking?_ he asked himself, his eyebrows rising. She closed her eyes, her hands traveling down his torso and down until they made contact with his jeans. He took a look down to her hands when she started to unbutton them; and when he looked back at her face, her eyelids opened slowly, shining in the low light. Her appearance stunned Sasuke for a moment. She looked just like an angel with those glistering eyes watching him: her pink hair spread across the mattress, those flushed cheeks, her small delicate nose, and lips a light shade of red releasing small pants now and then... She looked perfect, Sasuke thought... _A crazy, weird angel with a perverted mind_ , added Sasuke in his mind.

Her voice brought him back to reality. "Let there be two gorgeous naked bodies in this room, what do you say?" she said, purring out every word before she tossed away his remaining clothes. Sasuke couldn't help but let his mischievous grin grow wider hearing those words. This woman intrigued him more and more every second.

Sakura's legs lifted up and stroked his hips, feeling more eager with every second. Her hand slid between their now naked bodies and grabbed his manhood with impatience. Sakura felt it startle from the unexpected touch, her fingers wrapping around it before starting to pulse up and down his length. He was already hard, and Sakura was definitely pleased with its size. Sasuke groaned in pleasure and started to trace wet hot kisses all over her face, neck, and breast; biting and licking here and there making Sakura arch more into him. Louder moans escaping her mouth. Her hand started to feel strangled between their glued bodies and she slowly retracted her hand. Sasuke let out a groan in complaint. Then she began grinding her hips against him trying to dispel some of the aching need between her thighs.

Sasuke felt the hunger in her body and started to rub his length against her wetness, making the greedy woman under him shiver in pleasure and excitement. He bent down and locked his lips with hers in a hot kiss. His mouth retracted a little when he heard her trying to mutter something. Their eyes met again and Sasuke could almost see the flames in her look. He murmured a "Hmm?", his way of telling her to repeat what she said.

Sakura let out a long breath, the exhale tickling Sasuke's face. Her eyes pierced through his onyx ones with desire. "I want you... inside of me. Now."

"Greedy, aren't we?" he grinned down at her. She didn't answer, just pushed herself more into him.

His manhood brushed against her wet opening and Sakura tried to push herself more into him. Sasuke's lips landed eagerly on hers and suddenly, he thrust hard and deep into her, a scream escaping Sakura's mouth into his. Her walls grasped at him for a while, and Sasuke started to move slowly in and out giving her time to accommodate with him inside of her- their lips still clasping at one another. After a few minutes of slow moves, Sakura relaxed a little and nodded her head to Sasuke. He greedily smiled down at her, and it made Sakura's heart skipped a beat. How he can do such things to her, she didn't know, but it's not like she was complaining. His left hand moved to grab her waist; the other started going up over her body excruciatingly slow. Sasuke stopped in his journey just to squeeze her right breast a little. Finally his hand rested on her neck, his thumb tracing soft lines over her cheek. His touches and the way he looked at her with those dark and magnificent eyes made her breath stop in her throat. Sasuke squeezed both of his hands a little when he pulled out and entered her again harder, faster, and deeper... Her mouth released loud moans in time with the thrusts, and the sound gave Sasuke encouragement to continue.

Soon Sakura started to move with Sasuke, their rhythm the same, hips slapped against one another with each thrust. The room was filled with loud moans and the sound of their bodies smashing against each other. Suddenly she felt a delicious twinge rising between her legs and she arched her body more into his, hands grabbing his back, nails digging into sweaty flesh.

"Sasu-ke… Faster," she whispered into his ear. "Please... ahh... fas-ter." She pleaded again between moans.

Sasuke grunted. He knew that she was near orgasm, so he grabbed her hips and started to push into her so fast that Sakura almost couldn't handle it. Her head shot back, breath hard and rough and her nails scratching Sasuke's back so deep that blood almost burst out. Her legs started to shake around his lower back as waves of pleasure washed over her- taking Sakura somewhere far away from reality-, and a scream escaped her trembling lips. Her tight walls clasped around his shaft roughly, making all the muscles in his body tighten. The feeling was too good, and her hot core took him over the edge. After a few more thrusts, he felt a well-known sensation and with a groan he released himself into her depths .

His body collapsed on her tiny one, only their harsh breaths covering the silence. They stayed like that for a few seconds before Sakura broke the silence, her breath not yet even.

"This... this was so fucking..." she let out a long breath. "I don't even know how to describe it. It was just amazing." He didn't say anything and after a few more seconds she spoke again. "Uhm, can you... you know? Get off of me? You're kind of heavy," she asked squirming under him to get comfortable.

He raised his head from the crock of her neck and looked at her flushed face for a few seconds. She looked very cute. _Too bad… I can't see her ever again_ , he thought. Then he smirked, and Sakura almost rolled her eyes at his habit. "Oh, now I am heavy?"

Sakura flushed at his insinuations and punched playfully his shoulder. He shocked his head a little, that god-like smirk still on and rolled off of her. Then a thought went through his mind. "Are you on..." but he didn't had the chance to finish because Sakura knew what he wanted to ask.

"Yes." She said and she sighed. Sakura knew he was talking about birth-control pills and yes, she takes them. It was not that she was scared that she would become pregnant, her and Sasori didn't do something like that in a long time. Well, of course, he had his sluts for that, right? _Bastard!_ she yelled in her mind. The thing was that she had some problems with her period after her parents' death. The doctor said this will help her if she's not looking for a pregnancy. She wasn't, so she took them. They really had good effect on her system.

"Sasuke..." she said softly. She didn't want to think about Sasori and other things right now. She wanted to know this Sasuke better. He may be her salvation for this shitty life of hers.

He just grunted a "Hm?" _Asshole, back to non-words again. Uhhh_.

"Tell me something about you." Sasuke raised his head from the pillow, and lifted an elegant eyebrow at her. When he didn't say anything and just looked at her, she sighed. "I just... want to know you better. Better than you know... this," she said pointing to their naked bodies with her eyes.

Well this kind of conversation was not something that Sasuke was expecting. This was a one-night stand, and he would not have deep philosophical talks about himself with her. He doesn't talk much anyways, especially about himself. Plus, this woman didn't need to know more about him. After all, he is who he is, and that was better left unsaid. This Sakura, she was an interesting one. One of the most interesting women he ever met- beautiful, too. Yes, it's a shame he can't keep her for a while, but things like this don't happen for him. He sighed and ran a hand through his messy black hair in exasperation when he saw the impatient look she was giving him.

"Sleep," he said before he turned around and buried his head in the pillow.

Sakura stared at his back with astonishment. _Are you fucking kidding me? He just ignores my question_ _and_ _my presence?!_ "But-" she started again before he cut her off.

"It's late, and I'm tired. So, shut up and sleep. You're annoying," he grunted in his pillow, irritation laced in his voice. _What a jerk! Uhh, fine. In the morning, we talk. Yeah... in the morning_ , she said mentally to herself before she let her eyelids close.

* * *

"Naruto, please calm down. I'm sure he's fine," said a soft voice trying to calm the yelling man in the room.

"How can I calm down, Hinata? Hooooow? Teme left hours ago, and he's not back! What if something happened to him? What if some bastards got him? What if he's DEAD?!" he yelled again throwing his hands in the air with every word. The pearled-eyed woman sighed.

"Would you stop yelling?" another man in the room said clearly annoyed. "And calm yourself, you idiot. Uchiha can take care of himself."

Blue eyes turned in the direction of the voice. "But Nejiii, do you have any idea how many people want his head?!"

"I think they want our head, too," said a voice in boredom before he yawned.

"Shika is right, and we are still alive soooo..." a blonde said before plopping herself on the man who almost fell asleep in an armchair. The sleeping man grunted and murmured, "Troublesome woman." She heard it and just grinned at him.

"Okay, fine, he's not dead. But then where the hell is he? We are leaving in less than four hours and he's nowhere!" Naruto yelled again, making everyone flinch because of his loud mouth.

"Naruto, please stop yell-" tried Hinata, but was cut off by another woman.

"Listen you dumbass. Stop yelling or, I swear to God, I am gonna throw this-" and she raised the knife she was maneuvering with high skills with one hand, "right through your loud mouth." The woman was leaning on one of the four walls of the room.

Hinata crossed her hands over her large chest and narrowed her eyes at the said woman. "Tenten..." she said.

Tenten rolled her eyes and then chuckled a little. "Fine, I won't kill the love of your life. But make him shut up or I'll change my mind," she said sending Naruto an evil look.

Naruto gulped and then sighed. "He better be here when I leave or I'll kick his sorry ass."

TBC

* * *

 **A/N: Sooooo, this was it. I really hope you liked it and sorry again it took me sooo long. I will try to write more often but I have so bitch-ass exams.. but I'll do my best. Please review and tell me what you think.**

 **Xoxo, Adenna.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So even if I have a lot to study I made some time to write this. My mom almost caught me writing this when I should have been studying so yea.. Appreciate that :D I write this story with small steps until the best parts. Hope you are patient enough. Worth the wait, I promise.

 **This is someones inner**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

* phone ring, message, voice mail, email, writing*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

Enjoy!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Chapter 4**

 **Last time:**

"Listen you dumbass, stop yelling or I swear to God I am gonna throw this-" and she raised the knife she was maneuvering with high skills with one hand" right through your loud head." Said a woman who was leaning on one of the four walls.

Hinata crossed her hands over her large chest and narrowed her eyes at the said woman. "Tenten.." she said.

Tenten rolled her eyes and then chuckled a little. "Fine, I don't kill the love of your life. But make him shut up or I change my mind." She said sending Naruto an evil look.

Naruto gulped and then sighed. "He better be here when I leave or I'll kick his sorry ass."

* * *

It was early morning when a certain Uchiha entered their place. He fell asleep for like 30 minutes, saw the pinkete next to him sleeping like a baby, got his staff and left after doing some little things in the cheap motel. He was still thinking about the events from last night. He had a lot of women. Damn, he could have 5 girls/day. Sleeping around was nothing new for him. Something told him that Sakura didn't get that idea. That's why he had to leave before she would wake up and start asking questions again or worse, crying and begging him not to leave her. He had been through this kind of things and didn't like it at all. He was heartless and didn't care about anyone, except some of his friends. Not that he will ever tell them that.

He was walking to his room, hands in his pockets and caught in his thoughts when a fist collided with his jaw. It wasn't very hard, just enough so you can feel it. He immediately turned his head, anger rising inside of him. Who the hell dare to hit him?! In his own place, should he say.

Wide cerulean eyes stared back at him. "Where the hell were you?!" Sasuke just cracked his neck and started to move past him when a hand grabbed his shirt, stopping him in his tracks.

Sasuke glared at his old friend. "Let go, idiot." He snarled.

"Not until you tell me where were you all night. I was fucking worried!" he tried to sound more angry, but it was clear as water that he was just worried. They were best friends since ever, and yes, he knew very well that his bastard friend had moments when he just disappeared because 'he needs some time alone'. He wasn't mad because he went missing all night. Again. "I need to leave in 1h, do you know that?!"

"Hn." Sasuke looked him in the eyes. He wasn't in the mood for his best friend yelling and concern. He knew damn right that he is leaving and he is here now, right? So what's with all the yelling for god's sake?

Naruto let go of his shirt, his eyes still locked with his. "You're such an ass Sasuke. Come, everyone is in the meeting room." He said as he turned around and started to walk in the said direction knowing too well that Sasuke will follow him. The Uchiha indeed followed him after he ran a hand through his hair, an exasperated sigh leaving his mouth. _Just came back and I already have to deal with these idiots?_

They crossed the lobby and finally entered a room on the left. These idiots Sasuke called friends were all present. Tenten was spinning the sharp peak of a knife into the wooden table, _like a circus freak_ added Sasuke mentally, not that Tenten's odd habits were something new. Shikamaru was sleeping like there is no tomorrow in the armchair, Ino comfortable situated in his lap, fixing her already perfect nails with a nail file. Hinata was listening to Neji saying, if Sasuke heard right, something like 'If that Uzumaki idiot does one single wrong step just call me and I'll kill him then-' and that's where Sasuke wasn't curios anymore.

Sasuke coughed to let everyone in the room know that he's there and it seemed that just Naruto felt anxious about his whereabouts. The rest of them were pretty calm when they saw the legendary Uchiha.

"Oh, look who decided to appear. Were you a mysterious lonely wolf again?" smirked Ino at Sasuke after throwing her file nail over her head. The said man glared at her but his lips formed a smirk after her next words. " Oh sorry, I mean. Being a man-whore again?" and she snorted before smirking too. Sasuke knew a lot of women, but there was such a short list of how many she could stand being near or even talk to. When it was about fucking someone, yea, he could do that till the actual act, then, he's gone. And even in that circumstances, he wouldn't talk to much. Ino was one of those girls he could stand, along with Tenten and Hinata. Well, most of the time. Why?

"I almost killed this idiot Sasuke. Do you even know how hard is not to kill him when he is yelling for hours?" Tenten gave Sasuke a serious look through lashes before continuing 'playing' with her knife. Well, Tenten and Sasuke shared the same annoying feeling when they were with Naruto.

"And that is getting old already. Thinking about ways to kill Naruto is not fun anymore." Sighed long Ino. Sometimes Sasuke thought that Ino was still a part of this gang because she thinks 'killing or playing with people is fun'. Plus, 'you guys are funny even if sometimes I would love to cut your throats' said once Ino giving them her crazy-like smile. This woman never ever in her life said no to a challenge. She is crazy enough to do anything that enters her mind.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm kinda glad I'm leaving for a while." Said Hinata glaring at the other two girls who just sent each other a mischievous look along with a smirk. And Hinata, is Hinata. This woman was the most bipolar person he ever saw. This moment she can be all shy and nice, and the next she is shooting 10 people with a devil look on her face, smiling like that was the most beautiful thing to do in life.

"Did you arranged everything?" asked Sasuke looking at Neji.

He nodded in response. "It's my cousin we're talking about. The plane will take off, fly and land like an invisible one."

"I'll protect my lovely Hinata with my life." Said Naruto putting his thumb up and throwing a hand around her shoulders. "And this little kiddo too" he leaned himself to kiss Hinata's small belly.

"You better do that idiot, because if something happens to her I will bury you alive, that after I will-" started Neji to threaten Naruto giving him a death glare.

"Stop it Neji. I'm only one month pregnant, I can take care of myself." Hinata narrowed her eyes at her cousin before she turned to face Naruto and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Now, we better prepare ourselves to leave. The plane will be there in 20 minutes" she added looking at her watch.

Ino slapped Shikamaru's shoulder, which was sleeping peacefully through the whole conversation, rather hard "Wake up! They're leaving soon." She yelled into his ear making everyone in the room flinch, even Naruto. Imagine how that felt for Shikamaru.

The said man jumped almost throwing Ino on the floor if she wasn't already glued to his neck. He yawned, stretching his arms before he let a sigh escape his mouth. "Did I miss something?" and everyone in the room rolled their eyes, accustomed with him already.

Ino and Tenten raised from their seat, or Shikamaru's lap in Ino's case, and went to give a bear hug to their friend. "We'll miss you" "Take care of yourself sweetypie." said Tenten then Ino.

"Aw girls, I'll miss you too. " said Hinata snaking her arms around her girlfriends. "Don't have too much fun while I'm gone." She smiled at them before she tightened her arms around them one more time. What she didn't see was how Tenten pointed her middle and index fingers to her eyes then in Naruto's direction and Ino moving her hand above her neck in slow motion in their way of saying 'We have our eyes on you and if something happens to her.. you're dead'.

Naruto gulped and gave them an awkward smile and thumbs up. Sasuke shook his head from side to side a few times, a smirk on. _Crazy bitches_ he thought. Neji could only give Tenten a smirk when she winked at him. Oh how he loved this woman. She may be nuts but she was his and he could never find a woman more suitable for him. Tenten was the first woman to enter under Neji's skin, and the weird thing, it seems that her dangerous part excited Neji before he even realized that.

Shikamaru sighed, what possessed him to date this woman, he doesn't know. He wasn't interested in any woman, and even more, in one night stands and things like that. After a while he found out that she wasn't one to accept being ignored, and what was a 'definitely no' from him, and a 'I'll make you mine just to prove you that you want me' from her at the very start, became a 'fun and lovely' relationship. That if you would use Ino's words. Shikamaru's would be more of something like 'troublesome'.

"What? No hugs for me? " said Naruto extending his arms and pouting to the guys. Neji turned around on his feet and murmured a "I go call Shino, he should be here by now." Clearly uninterested about Naruto's words. The laziest from the group was too caught in his thoughts or dreams, nobody could tell wich one, to even hear his words.

And Sasuke.. well Sasuke wasn't known as a man of words, but he did gave Naruto a meaningful look which he could easily read, being his best friend for a lifetime, as something 'Don't die dobe, and take care of what you love.' Just as he moved his eyes away, he was almost thrown on the floor when Naruto jumped on him.

"Ohhh Temeee, I'll miss you too man. Don't worry, you'll be fine without me. I won't be gone forever, I'll come back to youuu." He yelled, his arms tightening in a breath taking, ribs breaking hug.

"Dobe, get off of – me. Idi-ot." Snarled Sasuke. The girls looked at them, amusement in their eyes, before looking at each other, a devilish smile spreading over their lips. Oh how much they enjoyed this. Neji came back and when he saw Naruto all over Sasuke, he just couldn't stop the smirk on his face. "I'm gonna fucking shoot you!" At this, even Shikamaru let out a short snicker. He decided to just light up a cigar and watch Sasuke punching Naruto in the ribs.

What started as a funny hug, transformed now into a wrestling show. Between punches, there was suddenly a knife flying between them and they both dodged it fast and turned their heads to see their attacker.

"What the hell woman?" "Hinata?!" they said in unison looking at a pissed off Hinata. "Really Hina, that's mine. That's not nice but I forgive you because you almost cut Naruto's jugular." Grinned Tenten.

"Stop fighting you stupid! Naruto!" and he straightened himself in a second, scratching the back of his head. "We're late, so move before I let my child without a father." _That crazy woman almost cut us. Freaking psycho bipolar woman!_ Thought Sasuke as he watched Naruto being manhandled by his woman. He couldn't help but smirk at his best friend, who just glared at him.

He then went to Shikamaru, snatched his cigar before putting it in his own mouth, a 'what the hell dude? Get your own' on the background. He inhaled the nicotine before he let it out after a few seconds and went to Naruto, an already fisted arm extended towards him and punched it with his own. Naruto grinned at him, and he just smirked. A simple nod to Hinata and he was gone. No, he was never a man of words, but they knew exactly what he meant.

* * *

Sakura woke up when a disturbing light flashed over her closed eyes. She had a terrible headache, probably from all that alcohol she drank before she.. wait.. Her body snapped up and she started to look around but she was all alone. The bastard, the hottest man she ever saw, was gone, like nowhere to be found. She wanted to slap herself and cry in the same time. _Okay, so calm down Sakura.. I had a fight with Sasori, run away in the rain.. bumped into this gorgeous unknown man, I drank like never before, had sex with someone I just meet, and it was amazing tho', and here I am..i can't belive I just done that! OMG what the hell is wrong with mee?! Not to mention the hottie just left me like nothing happened._ she raised from the bed realizing that she was all naked when a cold breeze hit her skin. Flashbacks from last night appeared in front of her eyes and she flushed before she started to collect her cloths that obviously.. were all over the room. She sighed when she put her last piece of cloth over her head and went to the window.

"Where the hell am I?" she whispered to herself looking at the unknown street through the window. She didn't remember to come here ever before and from the looks of it, she wasn't surprised. Her stupid husband didn't let her even to work, not to mention walk around on streets like these. She snorted to herself when her eyes widened in realization. _Fuck! Sasori will_ _kill me_ _when I get home. What the hell should I tell him? Where was I the whole night. Fuck fuck fuck. I'm screwed.._

Sakura was freaking out in the motel room, when there was a knock on the door. She immediately calmed herself, let out a long sigh and smiled. _Maybe the godlike hotness didn't left me..._ but her smile vanished when she opened the door and she came face to face with, Sakura thought, a maid. Probably the woman who cleans the room.

"Good morning, are you Sakura?" the middle-aged woman asked with a serious voice and expression. Sakura gulped and nodded her head. "Here" she said before throwing a piece of paper in her hands and closing the door. Sakura remained stunned for a few seconds. "What the hell?" she blinked a few times and opened the folded paper.

*Hate him, hate me, hate even yourself. Don't look for me, I'm not a hero. I'm your worst nightmare. *

Sakura's breath stopped in her throat. The writing was so neat and beautiful and even so… _these words.. did_ _he_ _wrote this? What does this even mean?_ Her vision blurred as hot tears gathered in her eyes.

"I already hate myself and everyone!" she yelled tearing apart the paper and throwing it on the floor, in pieces. "I already hate you for making me feel good and then leaving me alone like some piece of shit!" she said with trembling voice. Her knees went weak and she let herself sink into the cold floor. "I… why the hell is everything going so damn wrong in my life?.. why - ?" she sniffed. _I don't even know this guy.. and- and look at me. Crying my eyes out for some guy I just met.. for some words I don't even know exactly what it means._ She looked at the pieces of paper scattered on the floor. _I really saw him like a person who can take me away from this hell and.. and know he tells me that_ _he's_ _a nightmare when last night felt so good.. so.._ _right_ _._

Sakura shacked her head, then wiped her tears with the back of her hand. She won't cry anymore, she won't be weak. She won't let a man make her feel like trash anymore. No, not anymore. She went and took a look in the bathroom mirror, exhaled hard and left. She will find her way back home and she didn't even care that she looked horrible. She didn't care that her bruised cheek still ached and if Sasori will beat the pulp out of her again. She didn't care if this Sasuke guy fucked her then left like she was some kind of paid slut. She won't regret it because it felt right in that moment and this time she made her mind. She will not regret anything that made her feel good in the said moment. Life is too fucking short and her life is too shitty to regret things that makes her feel alive.. even if it's temporary. And hell, she will meet that man again and he will explain what that note meant. She will learn to hate him even after he made her feel like she owned the world. She will hate him.. but not before she sees the nightmare he is. He said he isn't her hero, he said he is a nightmare. But- what kind of nightmare felt so.. heavenly? And she will never look for him ever again if she can hate him.. but- if she feels her heart burn with passion when she'll see him again, if she feels her blood boil into her veins with desire.. she will never let him leave her.. never again. She can't do that.. with Sasori.. she's a doll, she's not alive.. she's just breathing, trapped in something she can't call life. With Sasuke, even if it was just a few hours of drinking and sex, she never felt more alive in her whole life. And she liked it.

She won't let this slip between her fingers. She just took her first inhale of fresh air, and she wants more.. she needs more.

Trapped in her own thoughts, Sakura found herself in front of her house.. in front of Sasori's house. She was nervous, she wouldn't deny it. He will be angry, and she doubt that he will be calm. She expects him to slap her, punch her, rape her.. anything that he already did in the past years. And even if she will try to defend herself, no matter how much she wants to.. she can't. Sakura knows she is not strong enough to fight him with her bare hands. She inhaled and exhaled long, preparing herself for the storm and opened the door. _He can beat me, he can do whatever he wants to me, but he won't kill me. I won't die, not yet. Not now.. when I finally found fresh air for my lungs and medicine for my tired heart._

"Where the hell have you been?!" shouted a voice as Sakura made her first step into the house. She gulped, exhaled and kept her head high. _Not yet, just… not yet. I need more. I won't die in my own nightmare._

TBC

* * *

 **A/N:** Sooo, chapter 4 done. I really hope you liked it and please REVIEW and tell me what you think so far about the story. I will really appreciate it and maybe update sooner, hehe. READ! So I thought that maybe we can put some questions here. I will ask you something every chapter and I expect your reviews with the answers and you can ask me anything too. I will post the answers every chapter. What do you say? Pretty please?

So who's your favorite character from Naruto. And why?

Xoxo, Adenna.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Heeeeey. How are you? I hope good. Not like me. I'm in kinda deep shit with all these things to study for med school. This shit is hard, no jokes.

So I made some time to write this chapter for you. Soooo, I hope you like it. I thought a lot a bot a LOT of details about this story and finally made my mind. I already know how the story will move on but yea, you will kinda have to be patient because I don't know when I find time to write again. Hope you understand.

I had this idea and I will write a quote on the start of every chapter. Tell me what you think about it and tell me if you would like me to write an ending quote too. Oh, and I try the quote to be fit for every chapter.

Oh and THANK YOU for all the reviews, favorites and follows at this story. I REALLY APRECCIATE IT. Love you a lot.

 **This is someones inner**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

* phone ring, message, voice mail, email, writing*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto. But I wish I did. Damn the masculine characters are HOT.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

Trapped in her own thoughts, Sakura found herself in front of her house.. in front of Sasori's house. She was nervous, she wouldn't deny it. He will be angry, and she doubt that he will be calm. She expects him to slap her, punch her, rape her.. anything that he already did in the past years. And even if she will try to defend herself, no matter how much she wants to.. she can't. Sakura knows she is not strong enough to fight him with her bare hands. She inhaled and exhaled long, preparing herself for the storm and opened the door. _He can beat me, he can do whatever he wants to me, but he won't kill me. I won't die, not yet. Not now.. when I finally found fresh air for my lungs and medicine for my tired heart._

"Where the hell have you been?!" shouted a voice as Sakura made her first step into the house. She gulped, exhaled and kept her head high. _Not yet, just… not yet. I need more. I won't die in my own nightmare._

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

~ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. ~

She decided to ignore him, walking straight to the stairs. She had one foot on the first stair when a strong hand grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around. Sasori looked at her rather pissed, before leaning into her and narrowing his eyes "Where. Have. You. Been?" He spat at her, shaking her arm between words making her breath stop in her throat.

Sakura tried to calm herself before she opened her mouth to talk "Why do you care anyways?"

Sasori gave her a sadistic smile after faking a hurt look "I'm your husband Sakura. Don't ask nonsense questions." Sakura couldn't stop the small snort coming from her throat. His face became serious and Sakura almost trembled when he gave her a stern look "I'll leave for a few days. Don't leave the house. Do you understand?" she nodded trying her best not to look as a scared cat.. and failed. She felt his grip loose and turned around to leave when he grabbed her face, forcing her to look into his eyes. His eyes seemed soft but she knew better. "I suggest you to be a good girl and don't do anything stupid. You wouldn't want to end up like… other nosy people." He smiled at her, and his words sent shivers down her spine. She didn't say another word and made her way fast to the bathroom.

 _Other nosy people? Is he talking about… my parents?_ She though terrified leaning against the door. _No, I'm being absurd. Right…?_ Hot tears poured down from her eyes at the thought. What if Sasori planed everything? What if  he killed her parents? But why would he do that? No, it was an accident. That was what the police said. She shook her head. All these kind of thoughts made her heart clench. Sasori is an asshole, but he isn't capable of something so horrible like killing someone. At least, that's what she hoped. She exhaled between trembling lips and moved to the sink to splash cold water on her face and wash away everything on her mind.

A few seconds passed as she stayed in front of the mirror, her face wet, an exhausted expression plastered on her face. The truth was, she didn't slept too much last night.. her mouth forming a tiny smile as images of Sasuke, naked in his whole glory, above her, flashed in front of her eyes. She sighed and decided to take a shower. She let the water gather into the tub before she stripped and got into the hot water. The water was slightly too hot but she didn't mind it.

After she finally cleared her mind and washed herself, Sakura covered her body with a white bathrobe, her hair wrapped into a turban towel. She exited the bathroom and made her way to the bedroom. She and Sasori didn't share a room, not even in their first months of marriage. It was something they both agreed without actually talking about it. She was in the doorframe when she heard Sasori's voice coming from his room, wich was a little further on the left. He probably forgot to close his door otherwise she couldn't hear him. Sakura didn't really care who was he talking to or what was he saying but the curiosity took the best of her and slowly made her way to his room, careful not to make any noise.

"I doubt it. She is not smart enough to discover us. Plus, she isn't the type to go around asking questions about me." She heard Sasori say, most probably talking to someone on the phone. _Discover them? Who? And what is there to discover?_ Sakura asked herself as she continued to eardrop behind the cracked door. She was aware that she didn't knew a lot of things about her husband just that he has some kind of big business that keeps him away from home from time to time, one that makes a lot of money. When Sasori's parents wanted her to marry him, they said they need a woman for their son, to look better in public. It sounded pretty weird but the money they put in the deal for her parents made her stop herself from further questions. Sakura's mother was a housekeeper and her father worked in as a police officer until they fired him without any reason. To find a new job was hard and that's why they needed money. Her parents didn't like what Sakura wanted to do for them, but she already made her mind so they just accepted it. She was brought back from her thoughts when Sasori talked again.

"I know that." There was a short pause. Sakura assumed the person on the other line talked again before she heard Sasori say something that stunned her for a few seconds, her eyes widened and she fast made her way to her room, but careful that Sasori won't hear her. She definitely wouldn't want him to catch her listening to his conversations.

She entered her room and closed the door soundlessly. Her head rested on the cold wooden door as her body slightly trembled, her mouth agape, panting. Sasori's last words repeated in her mind like a whisper from hell. 'She wouldn't be a problem. And if she becomes one.. well let's just say she'll meet her parents sooner than she expected' the chuckle he let out after those words made her body shiver. _Wh-what was that about? Is he… talking about.. me? Oh my God.. oh my.._ To say Sakura was scared was nothing.. she was terrified. His words kept ringing in her ears. She tried to compose herself and she finds it hard to do so. She couldn't stop thinking about what he implied. She was one hundred percent sure he was talking about her, even if she didn't hear her name. And this scared the shit out of her. Why? Why would Sasori want to kill her? Just the thought made her throat tighten. His words came back to her like an arrow through her head 'I doubt it. She is not smart enough to discover us. Plus, she isn't the type to go around asking questions about me' _Discover what? Why shouldn't I ask questions about him?_ She couldn't help but ask herself. She wasn't so sure she wanted to find out. Then another thought hit her, his words from earlier that day. 'I suggest you to be a good girl and don't do anything stupid. You wouldn't want to end up like… other nosy people. ' Her eyes widened before her vision blurred _He killed my parents.. there can't be any other explanation. The police said it was an accident. A house burning to ashes out of nowhere.. an accident? Why? Why didn't I think about it.. Damn it. I can't believe this.. Why would he kill my parents?_ She tried to gulp the pain and guilt but it was still there. It was her fault that she accepted this. It was all her fault. Her parents are dead, and it was her.. her fault. Al the feelings came rushing to her and it was too much to bear. She sank to the floor, her knees bent to her chest, arms wrapped around them as she let out quiet sobs. _It's all.. all my fault._

* * *

Sasuke let out a puff of smoke and sighed before he took a big gulp from his glass. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before he opened them again to look straight into bright-blue ones.

"You're sure that was the house?" he asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Yea" said the woman in front of him throwing her blonde hair over her shoulder " no trace, no files, not a single thing to led us to them. The house looked like nobody lived there, ever." She sighed.

"Hn." He inhaled the strong nicotine into his lungs and let it out after a few second before he quenched the cigarette into the ashtray near his glass of whiskey. "What about Hyuga and Tenten?"

Ino shook her head "Nada. At least, not until I talked to them." She poured herself a glass of whiskey too before she grabbed it to take a sip. She watched the amber colored liquid for a long minute after she put the glass on the table, then raised her head to look at the emotionless man in front of her. "I don't get it Sasuke. They are always a step or two in front of us." She sighed in frustration.

"Maybe not this time." Ino and Sasuke turned their heads to see Neji and Tenten in the doorway. Tenten raised a hard disk in front of her face and grinned. They both went to the table and sat down with Ino and Sasuke.

"They cleaned everything and the computers we found were burned inside. Still, I manage to find this in one of them." She took a short pause to grab Sasuke's glass and take o sip from it. The Uchiha prodigy glared at her but she ignored it. "It seemed pretty intact but I can't be sure. It may be useless.. but maybe Shikamaru can find something. We have a chance." She shrugged her shoulders like she said something unimportant.

"Tenten, take that to Nara. Tell him I want something until tonight." She nodded and then took his glass before leaving, totally ignoring Sasuke's glares. "Ino, call Kiba. Tell him I want my car back until tomorrow morning. No excuses accepted."

Ino rolled her baby-blue eyes "He said it will take a while Sasuke. You practically made it a trash on four wheels." Sasuke didn't say anything, just gave her a stern look. It wasn't like he destroyed his car on purpose. She sighed, sometimes you just have to let the Uchiha be bossy.

When Sasuke and Neji remained alone they just sat in silence for a few minutes. The brown-haired man just waited patiently. He knew Sasuke very well, he had something on his mind. He could just see it on his face but he chose to stay silent.

Finally, Sasuke talked "He's not there." Neji turned his head to him, but said nothing. He knew who was he talking about very well. Sasuke's expression changed in one angrier and his jaw went rigid "Why the hell he is running all the time?" he tried to compose himself, an expressionless Neji looking at him "he's a fucking coward, I will not be surprise if one day I'll find out he's one of them" he said shaking his head in a disappointing manner.

"Doubt it." Neji said impassive "Have you talked to Uzumaki?"

"Aa" he simply replied shaking his glass with his right hand, leaning into his seat, the sound of ice clashing into glass filling the silence "He said Gaara has a great security and guards everywhere. They're safe."

Neji nodded his head "As expected from Sabaku." He took a short pause "You know he's gonna look for him there." It wasn't a question, more like a statement.

"That dobe should mind his own business and take care of your cousin." His eyes closed, head slightly flexing back.

"Hinata is in good hands there and he knows that too." He shook his head, a smirk adorning his manly features. "That idiot is too loyal to you."

The corner of Sasuke's mouth turned up into one of his own smirks."Hn." Neji was right. Yes, this bunch of people surrounding him, his friends, he could easily call them, were all there for him. All in their own ways, they were there. They were his family, not just some guys he goes around with killing people and training, for years now. Naruto was the most loyal of them. He was the most opposite person of Sasuke. The 25 years old Uchiha was collected, mostly quiet, his expression almost every time deadpan. His intelligence high and always thinking before acting. Contrary to him, his blond best friend, same age with him was always hyper-active, a loud mouth that will never stop talking, or eating, and always acting on his instincts. He rarely looked serious, but Sasuke knew better. Even if he seemed an idiot, he still had a brain under his spikey blond hair of his and he did knew how to use it, just he didn't show it. And not to forget, his heart was the size of Earth. Naruto cares for his friends like for his own eyes. He would do anything for the persons he loves, he would take any risk, without even thinking twice about it.

Naruto was the first one he met from the group. A short while after his clan was murdered, at age of 8. Sasuke remained alone, hurt and lost. That's when he met him, on a cold winter night, on an abandoned street. He was attacked from a group of boys, older than them with some years. He tried to fight them at first, but then he just wanted to give up. He was alone anyways, just his brother was alive but that didn't matter. His older brother, Itachi disappeared right after the incident with his family and he was nowhere to be found. Sasuke just assumed he didn't care about him as he thought and ran away to hide as a coward, leaving him behind. He thought death wouldn't be that bad in his situation.

 **17 YEARS AGO**

He was ready for a final blow, with his eyes tight shut, but it never came. When he opened his eyes, he saw a boy, probably the same age as him, shadowing him, his back facing his collapsed, bloody body. The unknown boy had his hands clenched into fists, slightly trembling. In a few seconds, he was lunching his fists to Sasuke's assailants, fighting them and putting them down one by one. Sasuke's eyes widened in shock. Why would this guy defend him? He didn't even know him. Finally, he turned around to face him and the anger from his eyes turn into sadness in a second. He extended an arm down to him as he talked "Are you ok buddy?" The sadness and pity plastered all over his face stunned Sasuke for a second. Why would he care?He ignored the arm and forced himself to get up, wincing in pain as he did so."Hey, easy there. You're hurt." Sasuke glared at him, he didn't need his pity. Why couldn't he let him die? "What's your name?" he talked again. The Uchiha didn't respond but looked around at the corpses lying on the ground. They were pretty bad hurt. He heard the blond haired boy let out a sigh and then turned around, raising his hand after him in a good-bye way "Okay then, you mute-teme. Take care next time.".

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the nickname then spoke "It's Sasuke, you dobe."

He saw him stop in his tracks, turning around after a few seconds, grinning like an idiot. "Naruto" he said pointing his thumb to his chest. "But you can call me 'the one who saved your sorry ass'. You're welcome." He snickered.

Sasuke glared at him for a few seconds then turned around muttering a "Come" that didn't miss Naruto's ears.

"Wait. Where?" he asked dumb folded running to catch up with him.

"Hm. Home." He said looking straight forward.

"I.. I don't have a home." Sadness filled his cerulean eyes again.

Sasuke spared him a glance before he sighed "Me neither." The blond-haired turned his head to look at him as he continued "But we'll find one."

The corners of Naruto's lips turned up into one big, teeth-showing smile and he hit the air with his fist as he yelled "Yea! Let's find a home!" Sasuke looked at him annoyed that his yell hurt his ears but couldn't stop the small smile making his way on his lips. He made a friend. He wasn't alone anymore.

 **NOW**

All these years have passed and they still were best-friends. They learned everything about each other and fought side by side since then. He later found out that Naruto's parents died into a guns fight on the street when he was 5. He wanted to avenge his parents, and so did Sasuke. They were brothers. They didn't need blood-bond. They had their goals and friendship.. and that made their bond unbreakable.

Sasuke was taken back from his thoughts when a well-known sleepy voice talked. "Sasuke." He waited for him to turn his head towards him before he continued "found something." And he raised a stack of files.

* * *

Somewhere near Sakura's house, there was a shadow looking at the said house for a while now. A black coat was covering his body, a hood covering his face along with the darkness. He was looking straight to Sakura's home, like examining it. His hidden expression was lack from any emotion. _Sasori's wife, a pure and innocent woman, and Sasuke. Indeed interesting. Too bad they know nothing. Better observe this woman for a while. Who knows? Maybe this will become more interesting than I would ever thought._ The unknown man smirked at his thoughts as he made his way on the sidewalk. _I must know if this woman has the flame inside of her. And how strong it burns._

TBC

* * *

 **A/N:** Soo, this was it. I hope you like it and pleasepleaseplease REVIEW and tell me what you think. Please? Who do you think were Sasuke and Neji talking about? And who is the mysterious man outside Sakura's house? Curious? I guess you'll just have to be patient to find out. Till next time guys, wish you the best. DON'T FORGET about the QUOTES. Oh, and do you still want me to do the question  & answer thing? Thank youuuu.

Xoxo, Adenna.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Heeeey there. So today is my birthday. Yeeey happy 20** **th** **birthday to me! I made some little time just to start this chapter so I don't really know when this will be finished but I hope I won't take too long heh.**

 **READ : I am also looking for a beta reader so if you could recommend me someone I will really appreciate it. Thankies.**

 **Thank you for the favorites, follows and reviews! Kisses!**

 **This is someones inner**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

* phone ring, message, voice mail, email, writing*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto. Because if I would, Sasuke wouldn't have this weird haircut right now.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

All these years have passed and they still were best-friends. They learned everything about each other and fought side by side since then. He later found out that Naruto's parents died into a guns fight on the street when he was 5. He wanted to avenge his parents, and so did Sasuke. They were brothers. They didn't need blood-bond. They had their goals and friendship.. and that made their bond unbreakable.

Sasuke was taken back from his thoughts when a well-known sleepy voice talked. "Sasuke." He waited for him to turn his head towards him before he continued "found something." And he raised a stack of files.

Somewhere near Sakura's house, there was a shadow looking at the said house for a while now. A black coat was covering his body, a hood covering his face along with the darkness. He was looking straight to Sakura's home, like examining it. His hidden expression was lack from any emotion. _Sasori's wife, a pure and innocent woman, and Sasuke. Indeed interesting. Too bad they know nothing. Better observe this woman for a while. Who knows? Maybe this will become more interesting than I would ever thought._ The unknown man smirked at his thoughts as he made his way on the sidewalk. _I must know if this woman has the flame inside of her. And how strong it burns._

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

~I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.~

Ino leaned into her seat, an audible sigh escaping her red lips "This.. something it's nothing."

"Bitch, shut up. It's not nothing." Tenten glared at her before she yanked the piece of paper from her hand. "It's just that you're too stupid to understand Shikamaru's scheme." She placed it in front of her and watched it in silence for a few seconds ignoring Ino's death glare. The chestnut-haired woman bit her nail in concentration "So we have some numbers that Shikamaru assumed to be a date and some letters that are actually some initials, but we don't know whose."

"Plus some numbers that are for sure some coordinates and I'm still working on that." Shikamaru said lazily, stretching in his seat.

"And we do know who is this." Neji pulled the paper closer to him and pointed at some letters. "We already said that this is Orochimaru for sure."

"How do you even know that?" Ino raised one elegant blonde eyebrow "Isn't he missing or something like that for a while now? Maybe raping some kids or something?" Everyone in the room gave her a weird look "What?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes "He always had some unknown business with Akatsuki. He likes to hide but we can get to him this time."

"No offense Sasuke" an amused voice talked near Sasuke "You kind of wanted his help and then you didn't and now you want it again?"

"It wasn't like that. But I don't expect an idiot like you to understand that, Kiba." Snarled Sasuke back.

"Hey! I left my own cars for your stupid own car and I made it like new in a few hours. So watch it." He pointed his finger to him

Sasuke looked at him in boredom and just when he opened his mouth someone beat him to it "Would you shut up already?!" Tenten pointed her beloved knife to Kiba and Sasuke "Now, what I am curious about is what are we gonna do?"

Sasuke sighed, opened his pack of cigarettes before pulling one out and lighting it the second he placed it between his thin lips. He inhaled a long breath of nicotine and released it seconds later before he talked again "Nara will find the place. I'm sure an Akatsuki will be there. We will wait for them, surround them and get some answers."

"Get some answers?" Ino raised her brows and eyed the raven-haired solemn "Answers to what Sasuke? Those bastards are responsible for everything. We shoot a bullet through their skull and that's the only answer I want!" she narrowed her eyes.

"Ino." Shikamaru tried to touch her hand in order to calm her down a little only to have it slapped away.

"Oh wait. This isn't about our revenge anymore, is it Sasuke?" she asked the Uchiha scornfully "This is about finding your fucking brother!"

"Ino." It was Sasuke this time, but his tone wasn't one to calm her down, but one of warning that she's crossing the line.

"What? Am I wrong Sasuke? Or you're just using us for your-" Sasuke reached over the table and forcefully grabbed her face into his large palm, forcing her to look straight into his onyx eyes that looked murderously at her.

"Shut up!" he spat at her and Ino found herself being a little scared after a long time. "I want every member of that damned Akatsuki dead! But we still don't know everything and everyone so stop acting so smart. This is what we're doing. Anything else is none of your business!" he glared at her for a few more seconds before she released her and exit the room without another word, leaving behind him a trace of dark aura and a still kindled cigarette in the ash tray.

"You wanted him to kill you? You know very well this subject makes him… moody." Shikamaru broke the silence.

Ino glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and shrugged before getting up and leaving the room too. What nobody saw was the smirk that formed on her flawless face the moment she turned around. She knew very well Sasuke was a man who kept his words. She knew very well that he won't stop until he gets his revenge. Sasuke's brother was something he liked to see as his own concern. Something he never really talked about to anyone. Maybe just with Naruto. _That stupid blond always had his ways to get under his skin._ She shook her head as she made her way to one of the bathrooms. She was damn bored. Meetings and talking weren't her things. She was more of an 'act on instincts' woman. She didn't need to plan what she's going to do. Give her a gun and she's ready. Ino smirked to herself as Sasuke's angry face entered her mind. He would never hurt her and playing with Uchiha nerves was fun. Plus the bonus that he got so angry that he actually left. _This was so a double win for me._ She thought as she entered the bathroom ready for a relaxing bath.

* * *

Sasuke slammed his door so hard that the windows of his rooms almost broke. He was angry and just wanted to go back and strangle Ino. Like it wasn't enough that the blonde was crazy as fuck, she had to be annoying too. How dared that woman to doubt his actions was something he couldn't understand. He didn't need anybody to find his brother. The bastard was probably dead, if not hiding somewhere alone. He sat down on the bed, his head buried in his palms as he tried to calm himself. After a few silent minutes his back hit the mattress while his eyes looked blankly at the ceiling. He sighed. All these years and he managed so little. Yes, he did kill some bad guys. But wasn't he a bad guy too? He was, just maybe not like them. He never went around killing innocent people. Or maybe.. some innocent people did die because of his actions all these years. It wasn't like he cared anyways. If Uchihas were known for something, it was that they were always cold hearted. A full clan of heartless people, caring only for their own, doing always what they wanted. One of the biggest corporation of all time. And it all ended in one night. How many people can die in one night? In less than 12 hours. A lot. A whole clan actually. There were a lot of people out there hating them for their power, wealth and bonds. They said you can never break an Uchiha blood bond. They said nothing was more important than family. Or at least that's what his mother always said. His lovely mother, Uchiha Mikoto. The only heart in the whole clan. The only bright star in the dark night. She was the only person who could ever receive a soft tone from his father. And that was something, because Fugaku was one of the coldest men in the whole clan. Cold, stern, calculated and ruthless even with his own children. Mikoto was the exact opposite. Warm, caring, a splendid smile always plastered on her lips. She was everything that was beautiful. And everything was beautiful at her. And now she's dead.. Along with everyone else in his clan.

He frowned and gulped down the bitter feeling in his chest. _Not everyone_.. he thought clenching his hands at his sides. _Itachi_ His brother was alive. He saved him, and then ran away in front of his eyes without even a goodbye. Itachi was always someone to look up to for Sasuke. Since he was a child, he always wanted to become as strong and intelligent like his older brother. This until he left him all alone. All alone without caring about blood, or love, or anything. Sasuke never found a good explanation for everything his brother did. Sometimes he thought he was afraid and running with a child wasn't the best choice. Or maybe he decided to become one of them, in order to save his own life. The truth to be told, Itachi always hated the clan. He remembers Itachi saying that he loves their mother and him, but never the clan or even their father. He was one to show respect, but he hated everything about the Uchiha clan. So maybe he was one of them from the start, maybe he did this. And left him alive because he hated him the most. Living like this was definitely worse than death. Feeling empty all the time, killing people.. all those mixed feelings of anger, sorrow, pain, madness, solitude. Revenge. That's the last thought every night before he closes his eyes. All those feelings, everything, always lead him to revenge. That's what he was. An avenger. A cold-hearted fierce avenger. A criminal. This is the path he had chosen and he has no regrets. There is no place for anything else in his mind.

As he left himself caught in the world of dreams, a last thought came to his mind. _You were wrong mother. Our blood wasn't the one keeping us together. It was you. It was you and the way you warmed everybody's hearts. Without that feeling of warmness our blood is cold as ice and our hearts incapable to love._ How much time someone needs to move on? To get over the loss of warmness and learn to love again? Maybe a lifetime. Or maybe you can never feel the same way ever again.

* * *

She felt like she didn't know what's going on anymore. Like she didn't care what will happen next. She lost everything. There was no motivation to move on, to fight, to do.. do what? She was so confused about how she felt, what she thought. It was a feeling of emptiness that finally will eat her from the inside. She couldn't see a future, there was nothing to look forward to. Sakura couldn't stand this feeling in her chest. It got her staying numb on the cold floor, cheeks flushed and eyes red, every single part of her body aching. She could swear she tried to stop crying, to dry her tears. Even after she heard the front door open signaling that Sasori left, she couldn't move. It was getting colder and so was her heart. She was breaking and she could feel it _. But how you stop yourself from breaking?_ The pain of losing her parents wasn't something new. She already accepted that her parents were no longer alive, supporting her and loving her. The pain she was feeling now was something new, something that was so hard to understand that it confused her the most. Her mind was like a mysterious ocean and her thoughts hit her like a tsunami.

The small pinkete didn't know how many hours passed but her muscles screamed as she moved to get on her feet. It was getting darker outside and dark were her thoughts. She was weak. _Weak. Weak. Weak!_ She realized then that everything she did was never an act of courage. It was easy, and she was damn weak to go on the easy road. Everything that happened was her fault because she was fucking weak. Her parents died because she wanted the best without trying too much. And she got the worst for it.

She made her way into the bathroom, the wild beating of her heart deafening her. Her hands clenched as she watched her own reflection in the mirror. _Who am I?_ She thought as her knuckles became white. She has gotten to the point where she didn't know who she was anymore. Was she going crazy? Was she thinking straight? Were these thoughts hers? Jade eyes looked back at her and she almost gasped when she realized what she should hours ago. She wasn't grieving her parents' death. She wasn't crying because she was sad. No. She looked nightmarish, haunted, but her eyes held a sparkle that she immediately recognized as anger. She was so mad she wanted to raise her fist and break the mirror to pieces. And that's what she did, drops of blood streaming on the shattered glass that fell into the sink. She was shaking hard, the smell of blood and the redness of it trapping her in some kind of illusion. The ground seemed to crash under her feet, just like her world did a few hours ago. Her hand was bleeding but the physical pain was nothing compared to what she truly felt inside. An unbroken piece of glass remained on the wall and it reflected the side of her cheek. She remembered it bruised, blue and itchy. She was weak, yes. She let Sasori destroy her life and she didn't even say a word. _Pathetic_. Maybe she is a mess, a broken mess that would never think the same again. And maybe she will be broken forever because it's hard to forget. What she could never do again is live in a lie.. and being weak wasn't an option anymore. She would have to live with the dark thoughts for the last of her life _but I will never let you destroy others too Sasori._

"You will burn in hell for everything" she spoke her thoughts between clenched teeth. She wanted to go and strangle the life out of Sasori and send him straight to hell to pay for everything. But she couldn't be reckless and stupid again. That's how she got herself here in the first place. Acting without thinking twice before wasn't a good thing. She still didn't know a lot of things about him so she needed to be careful. The man could be more dangerous than she could ever imagine. One wrong step and he kills her without second thought. She wouldn't let him get away with it.

Sakura left the bathroom after bandaging her hand. She knew what she had to do. Break into his office, find evidence that he's a fucking murderer and leave the house as fast as possible. She didn't felt safe here anymore, not that she fully felt like it ever. She will go to the police and have them looking for him everywhere. That son of a bitch deserves to rot in a prison. It seemed easy and Sakura knew very well that easy paths don't lead to good destinations. So she needed to think more, and more until she came up with the best plan. If there was even a way to do this. He could have a fucking alarm on his office door and be back to kill her before she even has the chance to run.

"Break into office.. bad idea" she talked to herself as she dressed in some plain clothes. She closed every window and door the house had. She was being paranoid, she knew. But this situation she was in was real and so fucked up she didn't know how to handle it. "Call the cops here and let them break into his office." She thought about it while she went in the kitchen to make herself something to eat. If she needed to think straight, she needed food, energy and to try and keep her calm. "Worse idea. They will call him for sure and I'll still get myself killed."

Her forehead rested on the table as she sat down on a chair waiting for her coffee. Everything she thought about was so risky that she would most probably end up dead. It was so damn frustrating. _God, how in the word did I end up with a criminal and have my life messed up like this?_ How was she, a twenty years old small woman stop a fucking criminal? _I think I'll lose my mind._ She sighed.

* * *

The piece of bread with butter and the coffee calmed her system a lot but she was still stressed. This wasn't supposed to happen to her. And her parents wouldn't want her to act foolish and try to play the hero but it wasn't like she had other choices. As long as Sasori is in the picture, she could never be free. And she needed to be free, to start something new. For her parents.. they would have wanted her to be happy. _And I promise I will be one day. But for now, I need to be strong mom, dad. I need to do this._ She thought as she turned the doorknob of Sasori's office.

She switched the light on and walked in. A lot of sceneries went through Sakura's head so she moved fast to his desk, not wanting to waste any minute. Every drawer was unlocked and Sakura found it to be a little strange. A man with such secrets like Sasori should be more wary but not that she would complain it.

There were a lot of files.. so many Sakura didn't knew where to start. Some were even bills and stuff like that. Some looked like normal business files, nothing suspicious. She started to become frustrated as nothing was incriminatory between his files. She took a look at everything and nothing was unusual. Then she saw his laptop, casually left on the desk. She plopped into the chair and opened it. _What better place to hide your secrets than your laptop huh?_ She thought hopeful as she waited for the devise to open. After going through some folders she finally found something. There was a folder full of other folders with different names. She recognized the name of some neighboring villages, but the others were still unknown. Some seemed to be organizations names, others surnames and so on. Then she found it. 'Haruno' it said and as she gulped her emotions down her throat and clicked on the folder. There was a folder for each member of her family including her, and then one more that said 'Haruno Kizashi's investigation'. She eagerly clicked the folder before something caught her eyes. There was a red dot that kept throbbing in the right corner of the desktop. Sakura blinked and moved the pointer over it. A small box appeared and her eyes widened. _Laptop security._ She mentally read before cursing aloud. "Shit shit shit." Sakura started to panic and her hands started to shake. "This is NOT good." She needed to dig into his folders more but if she guessed right, the owner of the laptop, who is Sasori the murderer of her parents, just got a notification or something that someone broke into his laptop.

"I'm dead meat!" she rose to her feet and looked around panicked, trying to think of something. _The more I stay here, the more chances I'll die! And if I run now, there's no way I can ever prove anything against him. FUCK!_ She grabbed the laptop and ran. Ran as fast as her feet would let her. Out of that house and as far away from it as possible.

Sakura's feet lead her straight to the police. She has a chance. If she gets there before Sasori gets to her, she can let the police do their job and lock him in the prison forever. Yes, she can do it. She kept running, the laptop held close to her wild beating heart. She can't die yet. Not before that bastard would pay for every sin he made.

She saw the police building and she started to feel more and more confident. It was late at night but someone would be there and help her. She was close. So close to destroy the one that destroyed her. Almost there. _Almost there and I'm sav-_

Sakura was pulled out of her confident thoughts just as she was about the reach the police station street. A hand roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a dark alley. Her back was slammed into a wall and her breath stopped in her throat. Just as she was about to scream a hand covered her mouth. A shadowed body closed the distance between their bodied, immobilizing her.

"I wouldn't go there in your place, Sakura." The man whispered into her ear. Her eyes widened and she felt fear rise inside of her. "Now be a good girl, stay still and shut up." _Fuck!_

* * *

 **TBC**

 **A/N : Finally chapter 6. Sakura is in big trouble heh. Also, I tried to make this chapter a little deep. Hope i managed to do so. I am sorry it took a while but I had other things to do too so yea. My bad. Also I wish you a Happy new year! I hope you all have the best year. So I tried my best with this chapter and I hope you liked it. The next chapter will have to wait a little because I have a lot of exams this month and I won't be able to write. Sorry but I promise I will write asap.**

 **Please tell me if you know any good beta readers. Again, I will appreciate it a lot!**

 **Please REVIEW and follow and favorite if you like it. Your opinion matters to me a lot!**

 **Till' next time, wish you the best. Xoxo, Adenna.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Everybody, I am so sorry for keeping you wait for this long but you know my always excuse. Exaaaaams. And it's the truth. I still have 3 of them but decided to take a break and write a little. NejiTen lovers, this chapter is for you! I did write that the second main pairing is NejiTen and I want to keep my word.**

 **!LEMONS! In this chapter.**

 **Also thank you so much to those who leave reviews. I really appreciate it very much. I love you guys.**

 **Also lots of thanks to 'ILoveSxS' who left a review to every chapter of this story! Thaaaank youuu. Thanks a lot to 'NtheRuF' too for leaving several reviews! You guys make me so happy.**

 **This is someones inner**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

*message, voice mail, email, writing*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

Enjoy!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

Sakura's feet lead her straight to the police. She has a chance. If she gets there before Sasori gets to her, she can let the police do their job and lock him in the prison forever. Yes, she can do it. She kept running, the laptop held close to her wild beating heart. She can't die yet. Not before that bastard would pay for every sin he made.

She saw the police building and she started to feel more and more confident. It was late at night but someone would be there and help her. She was close. So close to destroy the one that destroyed her. Almost there. _Almost there and I'm sav-_

Sakura was pulled out of her confident thoughts just as she was about the reach the police station street. A hand roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her into a dark alley. Her back was slammed into a wall and her breath stopped in her throat. Just as she was about to scream a hand covered her mouth. A shadowed body closed the distance between their bodied, immobilizing her.

"I wouldn't go there in your place, Sakura." The man whispered into her ear. Her eyes widened and she felt fear rise inside of her. "Now be a good girl, stay still and shut up." _Fuck!_

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

~ One day you'll find someone who will play with the demons in your head and set a fire in your soul. ~

The stars shinned beautifully on the dark sky, as silence devoured every little sound. She kept her gaze on the beauty of darkness. She always loved it. And maybe that was because she lived in darkness for so long that finally.. it felt like home. The sky was full of stars and she thought that maybe darkness is needed so the stars can shine. How lucky the stars were to have the dark sky giving its' all for them every night. She never considered herself being lucky. With no family since birth, always moving from place to place looking for something. Something that she didn't knew what was. She just knew she needed something. So she decided to do something. That's when all the bad decision came. Stealing, fighting every person she could find and getting herself in trouble. That's all she did. She also found herself being excited when starting a fight. Pain was the easiest thing to obtain and that was something. At least she felt something. She could endure pain and it thrilled her every time a part of her body ached. Although, the child she was always wondered how a heartache feels. Was it better? Was it worse? She always asked herself but she only felt her heart beating, sometimes forgetting even that she had something in her chest keeping her alive. Her eyes closed for a few seconds, her mind digesting her own thoughts.

And then, one day, it happened. Something happened. Something different. She remembers that she started a fight with a whole gang of men. They spotted her on a dark alley and started mocking her. Saying that women are weak and they could do what they want with her. So she just decided to show them that that wasn't her case. And she did manage to bring down a few of them, but they were indeed stronger and they outnumbered her. Her whole body ached and bled but she was used to it. She thought that maybe she will die this time, there on a dark alley, numb like a piece of furniture. But death didn't sound that bad in that moment. Her whole life didn't have a meaning so what could be that bad if she just died. And then all the gang members started to hit the ground and she couldn't understand what was happening. Just when she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a voice she realized that.. finally, something happened. And it said 'Hey.. can you hear me?'

"Hey." Silence "Tenten."

"Huh?" she blinked twice snapping out of her thoughts and turning around.

"Are you ok?" a person stood up on his forearm in the bed "Why are you awake?"

She started at him for a few seconds "Neji." He just looked at her in the dim light coming from the moon. "You're my something."

The said man watched her in confusion and raised an eyebrow "Something?" She sat down and pulled her feet under her and nodded. "It's that supposed to mean a sweet thing or something? Because I don't know you as a romantic one, neither-" but he stopped abruptly when she smacked him in the chest.

"You're an idiot." She huffed.

Neji sighed and rubbed the spot she hit while getting up on his rear. He really doesn't understand women. And probably never will, especially this one. "What's your problem?" she glared at him and he ran a hand through his untied hair "What do you mean I'm your something?" he asked.

Tenten sighed in frustration then looked him straight in the eyes. "I realized that I am lucky." Neji raised his eyebrow again. _Lucky? What the hell is she talking about?_ He thought confused _Is this really Tenten?_ "You're the  something I've waited all my life for. And I was lucky to meet you" she smiled at him.

The men in front of her looked at her astonished. Never since he first met her did he saw her smile so genuinely. Tenten was the type of woman that grinned like a maniac or just stayed serious. "I mean" she started again "You made me feel something for the first time in my life. Something other than pain. Here" and she placed a hand over her chest.

Neji's eyes softened in a second and he almost felt like smiling. Too bad he never smiled so he just smirked. He couldn't really understand what the hell is happening. Tenten wasn't the type to say such things but for an odd reason he couldn't find himself complaining. He took the hand she held on her chest and moved it over his bare chest, his own hand covering hers.

"I guess it was our fate to meet." He smirked at her and she blinked. A few seconds later she started to grin. _More like her_ he thought. "So I see you're still mentally ill. You scared me for a second." His smirk grew wider.

In a blink of an eye she pushed him on his back and placed herself over him, caging his arms above his head with her own. She smirked down at him. "You love me like this."

He kept his smirk on as he escaped her grip on his arms and grabbed the back of her head, slamming their lips together. Their eyes closed and their lips and tongues started to fight for dominance. She leaned more into him, her body rubbing against his. _Well_ _this_ _is the Tenten I know._ He smirked inwardly.

His hands started to wander over her body, leaving hot traces like it has been the first time he touched her. She moaned into his mouth when he grabbed her rear, squeezing it, while his other hand grabbed the hem of her top. They separated their lips allowing their lungs to breath and Neji took the chance to take off her tank top. Her breasts jumped a little and he eagerly cupped one while his mouth captured the other's nipple. Tenten bent her back and moaned and Neji couldn't stop thinking that this was his favorite sound.

Tenten felt a big cold hand on her spine before the man under her switched their position, pinning her under his strong body. She looked up seductively. "Feeling bossy today?"

He said nothing and attacked her neck, his hands slowly making their way down over her ribs, before tauntingly moving them close to her core and down over her thighs. His lips traced down butterfly soft kisses, sucking on her collarbone before continuing their path down over her mounds. His hands made their way to the hem of her short and pulled them down along with her panties. He thrown the discarded cloths on the floor and gently touched her wet spot. She sucked in a good amount of air that stuck in her throat. He sucked on a random spot of her belly his fingers slowly massaging her pack of nerves. She moaned as she sank her head in the pillow more, Neji's hair softly tickling her stomach and belly.

She almost whined in disappointment when his hand left her core only to release a moan when she felt his tongue on her wet core. She shivered in excitement as he moved his lips and tongue like an expert. One of his hands went up to grab a mound, his fingers playing with her nipple while the other one pushed her legs apart more, his legs dancing over her skin. Hot air entered and left Tenten's lungs faster. She released a loud moan when he suddenly pushed two fingers into her core and started to thrust fast as he continued to lick her sensitive spot.

Tenten's hand went and grabbed his hair as her hips pushed forward into his fingers. As a whole universe of pleasure gathered in her belly, her legs started to shake in anticipation, her free hand grabbing the mattress. Her back arched and her grip on Neji's hair tightened as pleasure exploded in every inch of her body. Neji continued to send her over the edge a few more minutes before abandoning raising his head from between her legs and licking her essence from his fingers. He took a glance at her noticing that she was panting, with her eyes closed. The corner of his mouth raised into a smirk.

Before she could take a hold on herself, she felt Neji's body over hers and without warning thrust inside of her. His mouth covered her mouth before a loud moan escaped her lips, his mouth entering her cavern and giving her a taste of her own gist. They kissed passionately as her legs curled around his lower back and he snaked an arm around her back, taking a tight hold on her and pushing her harder into him. Her nails dig into his back but he didn't mint it. He felt her inner walls clasp around his hard member telling him she was close to her second release. His hips thrust deeper into her and she moaned into his mouth before she snapped her head back, body shaking as her orgasm enfolded her. Not long after, Neji took his member out and released his seeds on her belly, growling in the back of his throat. His body collapsed over hers, their sweat mixing together as he panted in the crook of her neck.

"I love you Neji." She whispered into his ear stroking his long locks out of his face.

He smirked even if she didn't saw it "And I love having sex with you."

"You're an ass." She huffed "I take back what I said."

He chuckled then kissed her short under her earlobe before whispering back "Love you too, nuts.". She smiled genuinely for the second time that night and shook her head slightly. Of course he had to add something to that sentence. He raised his head and looked her in the eyes before giving her a peck on the lips "Let's take a shower." and winked at her.

"This is gonna be a long night I presume" she grinned at him and he chuckled evilly while he dragged her to their bathroom.

* * *

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he exhaled a puff of smoke. He couldn't sleep so he decided to go out a little. He always liked the way the chilly wind felt on his skin. So he made his way outside, stepping soundlessly on the floor into the long hall when he passed by a certain room. He couldn't help but roll his eyes until he almost saw his brain when he heard pants and moans coming from the inside of the room. It was almost 3:30 and they had nothing better to do than having sex.

So now he sat outside on the grass, smoking and looking at the stars. He didn't know why but he felt annoyed like hell after he heard his friends having.. fun in their bed in the middle of the night. Of course he could go fuck someone any time he wanted. With his looks and sex-appeal it was easy to take women in bed. He cursed mentally when a fast thought came and left his mind. He wasn't jealous that his friends had someone to sleep with every night. Someone to share feelings and hugs with in bed at night. He wasn't that time of man. He liked the pleasure of sex and the way women moan and scream, showing him how good they feel with him in bed. That was all. Romance and affection wasn't for him.

He threw his cigarette away before taking a last inhale from it and closed his eyes. For some odd reason the pink-haired woman entered his mind. He wouldn't lie to himself, that woman was for sure something new. She was kind of strange. Like she was half angel, half demon. Innocent and sweet but in the same time dangerous and wild. Her attitude intrigued him. It was the truth, yes. But it didn't matter to him anyways. It was a one night stand. No feelings, no attachment, no anything. Just sex. He knew that a deep part of him hoped to see her again once. To fuck her senseless one more time. She was kind of addicting. Like discovering the best drug and you just want to try it one more time. It sounded crazy for him, of course. He slept with so many women that it would be strange for a man like him to think such things. And still, he still has flashbacks of her flushed cheeks, her soft odd colored hair spread on the pillow, body shinning from sweat, lips-

He growled and shook his head hard a few times wanting to punch himself. _What the hell am I thinking about? I'll never see her again. It was just a night. Just sex._ He massaged his temples. He asked himself why his life had to be so fucked up. Why all those horrible things had to happen to him? Maybe if his life wouldn't have turned up like this, he would have tried to know women better. Not just sleep with them and leave. But those women weren't like Tenten or Ino. They have normal lives, with simple problems that can be easily solved. His was the most fucked up life he knew. It would be selfish of him to just drag someone into his messed up life. He snorted. _Like there would be any woman crazy and idiot enough to stay with a criminal and heartless man like me._ And on a second thought, he kind of likes it this way. Caring about someone too much makes you weak. Love makes people do stupid things without thinking. Yes, love it's dangerous. So Sasuke was great alone. The last thing he would need now was another dangerous thing in his life. Even so, he lost the capacity to love a long time ago. Caring about his friends was a thing, having a woman to love was another. His women friends could take care of themselves. It was easy having a strong woman who won't bring you down. Having a random woman was impossible for him. The pinkete flashed again through his mind for a second. _Definitely impossible. She would have ran away from me in the next second if she would have heard what kind of things I do._ Then he remembered her bruised cheek _Maybe her life isn't that nice either._ He sighed opening his eyes and looking at the shining stars. He thought that her eyes shined brighter when she bumped into him and looked up at him with teary eyes.

He raised his hand and smacked his forehead. _I'll soon go insane if I'll keep thinking about useless things. I don't care about random women I sleep with and I don't care who did that to her because it's her own business if she's weak. Yeah. Right. She deserves it if she can't fight for herself. But of course, the one who hit a defenseless woman like her it's for sure a big scumbag._ He heard another voice in his mind telling him that fucking someone and living them in the morning before they wake up and without a single word isn't better, but he pushed the voice away. He never forced anybody to sleep with him. They wanted it too. Their fault if they can't see that it means nothing and they hope for more. _I'm curious how she would react if she'll find out she slept with a criminal after running from another idiot who beat her. If I ever have the chance to meet her maybe I'll ask who the fucker is. I can always kill him. And then fuck her one more time before leaving her and letting her have a normal life._ At that moment he wanted to strangle himself. Why in the world does he think so much about a random chick? Did she drugged him or is she some kind of evil witch who came into his life to bring him to the edges of his sanity?

"Get the fuck out of my fucking mind, you evil creature!" he suddenly yelled. He was so mad with himself. He always had in mind just his goals, never some random woman. So it confused him why he thought only about her since he came outside. _It's those' 2 idiots fault. Yeah. They reminded me about sex and because she was the last one I had sex with she entered my mind. That must b-_

"Should I send you to a loony bin?" came a voice from behind him and Sasuke turned around to face his lazy friend.

"You're not sleeping?" he asked Sasuke wanting to change the subject before he really goes insane.

Shikamaru shrugged "Ino punched me in her sleep" he sighed in frustration.

Sasuke smirked "And you decided to come watch your beloved sky?" he asked mockingly.

The lazy Nara yawned "Nah, just went to the kitchen to grab some water and I saw you on the window." He scratched his head sheepishly. Sasuke just 'hn'-ed and turn his back to him. "I'll go back to bed. You should too."

"Yeah, yeah." The Uchiha mumbled shaking his hand in the air in a dismissing way.

His friend shrugged, turned around and murmured something while he left, but Sasuke still catch it. "You think too much Sasuke. Either learn to shut down your thoughts or just accept them." A short pause then "You'll really go insane otherwise." And he was already inside the house.. that was more like a mansion with secret rooms and passages.

Sasuke ran a hand through his hair. Accept his thoughts? Like hell he would let that woman take control over his mind. He would rather stab himself in the neck. It was just now that he thought about her so it doesn't matter. He won't see her or think about her ever again. At least, that's what he hoped.

* * *

Sakura woke up with a terrible headache. She blinked a few times and rubbed a hand against her sleepy eyes. _What happened? Did I fell asleep? Was it all a nightmare?_ She thought but her thoughts crashed down when she looked around the room she was in. Nothing was familiar so that could mean a single thing.. she wasn't home. She looked fanatically around the room, and tried to ignore the headache as she pushed herself in a sitting position. _Where the hell am I?_

She tried to remember what happened last night and then the memories came back to her. She was running to the KPD when something grabbed her by the arm and forced her into a dark alley. She could vaguely remember what happened next. She looked down at her hands and feet. She wasn't tied up so that's a good thing. But it was still too early to feel released. Someone did stop her from going to the PD and also took her God knows where. She looked around the room again and saw that there was no window. _What kind of room is this without a fucking window?_ There was only a small lamp that gave the room a dim light. _Great. Most probably that fucking murderer kidnaped me. Wich still makes me confused as why didn't he kill me yet. I guess I just have to be grateful that he didn't._

She started to rub her temples a little. The headache was really pissing her off but that was her last problem right now. She needed to get out. And fast. _Like hell I'm gonna stay here and wait for that bastard to come and kill me. Maybe I can escape without being noticed._ Wich she hardly doubted because lately luck and her weren't really on the same line. But she still had to do something. At least try her luck and get out of there. Just when her muscles contracted and she was ready to get up from the couch, a voice from behind her stopped her in her tracks making her feel all the panic she tried to push away since she woke up.

"I see you finally woke up" it said and Sakura remain stunned in place, afraid to turn around and look the person in the eye. The voice was so plain and emotionless like it was just a normal other day to the said man. Like kidnaping someone it was something he was used to. And Sakura never felt more terrified in her whole life.

 **TBC**

* * *

 **A/N : Wohoooo, I finally finished this. Maybe is shorter than you expected and sorry for that. I did try to do my best with this chapter so I really hope you liked it. PLEASE REVIEW. Your reviews make me happy and maybe I'll write faster hehe. No really now, I really really want to know your opinion guys. Check my other story too if you want. It will mean a lot to me. Thankies.**

 **Xoxo, Adenna.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N : Omg so sorry for the late update but fuck it, I'm done with my exams. Fuck yeah!**

 **Thank you so much to those who reviewed/followed/favorite this story. Love you guys!**

 **This is someones inner**

 _This is someones thoughts_

This is an emphasized word

*message, voice mail, email, writing*

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

Enjoy!

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

She started to rub her temples a little. The headache was really pissing her off but that was her last problem right now. She needed to get out. And fast. _Like hell I'm gonna stay here and wait for that bastard to come and kill me. Maybe I can escape without being noticed._ Wich she hardly doubted because lately luck and her weren't really on the same line. But she still had to do something. At least try her luck and get out of there. Just when her muscles contracted and she was ready to get up from the couch, a voice from behind her stopped her in her tracks making her feel all the panic she tried to push away since she woke up.

"I see you finally woke up" it said and Sakura remain stunned in place, afraid to turn around and look the person in the eye. The voice was so plain and emotionless like it was just a normal other day to the said man. Like kidnaping someone it was something he was used to. And Sakura never felt more terrified in her whole life.

 **Chapter 8**

~Give a woman pain and she will turn it into power.~

The room was engulfed in a deafening silence. The only thing Sakura could hear was the wild beating of her heart. She commanded her body to move already a dozen times but the stubborn muscles refused to contract. Her fisted hands shook slightly in her lap. She could hear a voice in her mind yelling at her to move, to get up and run. It wasn't safe for her in this unknown place. The problem was that she also knew that whoever talked a few minutes ago was still there, behind her. His strong gaze almost burning her back and making her shiver. There was no chance she could escape now. Only the person's presence made her feel scared. She was frightened and the feeling was almost suffocating.

Small, but strong steps were heard behind her and she gulped, trying her best to compose herself. She may be scared but she wasn't powerless. Not anymore. She will fight, no matter what will happen in the end.

The man made his way to the wall opposite from her, leaning into it and crossing his strong arms over his chest, before going back to stare at her.

Sakura almost flinched when she felt the man's eyes bore into her once again. She stared back warily. The man just sat there like he had all the time in the world. His form was relaxed but there was a sharpness of his body that made him dangerous. That, if you ignore the fact that the man had kidnapped her and was now staring at her like some creep.

If he wasn't there to kill her or something alike, she would have allowed her mind to think that he was gorgeous. She knew better than that though. His expression was so emotionless, just like his voice sounded. There wasn't even one emotion she could decipher on his face. His grey orbs, still staring into her emerald ones were like stone. Sakura wasn't sure if he even blinked since he came in the room. It was like looking at a statue.

She cleared her sore throat and it took all the fortitude inside of her to open her mouth and force herself to speak.

"Who are you?" she asked bluntly feeling herself getting angry more than scared "Did the bastard sent you after me? Why didn't he come himself?!" she spat with venom in her voice. She couldn't even care that the man in front of her could be dangerous or that Sasori too wouldn't be so nice but all the fear was long gone. She was too infuriated with the situation.

The man didn't even blink. The only thing Sakura barely saw was a slight arch of his eyebrows.

"Well?" she spat impatient to know what's going on. The anxious feeling in her stomach was still there though.

The said man closed his eyes for a second and Sakura thought that he would just continue to ignore her. She was ready to open her mouth to tell the bastard to talk already when she saw his eyes open. His strong, soul-penetrating look silencing her on spot.

"Sasori didn't send me" he started impartial, ignoring her first question "if that's what you thought, you can relax yourself for the moment."

Those 3 words 'for the moment' made her to want to turn around and run as fast as she could. "Then who are you? And why the hell did you kidnap me?" she asked bitterly, trying her best not to let her voice shake. She didn't know if she could feel relieved or not. Even if the man didn't lie and Sasori isn't behind this, he still did take her somewhere she didn't know.

"I didn't kidnap you." He stated neutral, unaffected by the venom in her voice. Even more, he seem to be aware of Sakura's panic state.

"Then what the heck do you call when you knock-out someone and then bring them to-" she stopped herself a few seconds contemplating where was she"-where the fuck are we anyways?" she asked ardent.

She saw the man sigh in what looked like exasperation. Maybe he wasn't so pleased with the way she yelled at him and Sakura took a mental note to try to calm her nerves. After all, she didn't know what the man was capable of.

"I think 'saving you' is more adequate." He watched her eyes narrow into slits.

"Save me?" she asked giving him an incredulous look. Her eyes suddenly widen when something hit her "Where is the laptop?" she suddenly asked terrified.

He gave her a bored, neutral look and Sakura was still unable to read anything on his face. This made her more anxious. "I got rid of it."

"You-" her eyes became wider "You got rid of it?! You fucker, you took my only proof I had against that criminal!" her eyes looked fanatically around the room like hoping that she would see somewhere the said laptop, before she caught sight of the man in front of her again "Why the hell did you do that?!" she glared as hard as she could at him while rising to her feet and clenching her hands beside her slightly shaking body, digging her nails so deep in her palm that it almost hurt. _This is bad. Sooo bad. How in the world I am going to prove anything against Sasori now? I'm already dead like this._

His voice brought her back from her dark thoughts "That laptop was your one-way ticket to death." The man informed her, carefully scanning her now horrified face. Her lips parted as if it became hard for her to breath.

"What are you talking about? Is this some kind of fucking sick _joke?_ " she asked outraged, throwing her arms in the air in pure confusion and agitation.

"First of all-" he stopped and gave her a hard look that made Sakura stiff in place. He was rarely the talkative type so if he still has to talk more than he likes, at least the woman should stop yelling and cursing like a sailor. "Sit." He commanded. It was surprising how she could jump from anxious to scared, then to some fearless crazy yelling woman, then do the cycle all over again.

Sakura tried as hard as she could to seem determinate and strong so she crossed her arms over her chest and glared back at him. Even so, when he started to move towards her and his eyes narrowed more, Sakura felt all of her stubbornness leave her just like it wasn't there in the first place. Her body sat down, back on the couch, like it just has been paralyzed. Hands fell in her lap and they immediately grabbed the hem of her shirt in hope that they would stop shaking.

He grabbed a chair and brought it in front of the coffee wooden table between them. He sat down and a foot came up and placed itself on the edge of the table, his large hands intertwined over the bent knee.

Sakura lean a bit more into the couch. The proximity was too much for her and fear started to gather again inside of her. She doesn't even think it left her in the first place.

"The laptop had a tracker on it. Sasori would have found you anywhere as long as you had that with you." He stated calm. Sakura wanted to open her mouth and tell the man that it didn't matter because she was close to the police station and someone there would have helped her. "The police in Konohagakure is corrupted. The moment you take a step in that building, he knows." He continued like he had read Sakura's thoughts.

Her eyes went wide and then back to their normal size as she glared at him "That's not true! My father was a police officer and-" but the man didn't let her finish her sentence.

"I know that your father was in the police department. But I also know that he was fired at some point." He examined her face as her eyes seemed to widen a little, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion. It could be read very easily on her face that she was rather curious how come this man knew so much about her father. "This is not important right now though."

"Then what the hell is important? How come you know so much about my family?" she asked indignant.

"What is important right now is if you want to live?" he asked, his tone and expression still passive.

"E-excuse me?" she blurted out. "If you wanted me dead then why the hell didn't you-"

"Shut up and listen." he gave her a stern look and her lips sealed together. "Sasori will eventually find you and he won't hesitate to kill you. If you want to stay alive I suggest you to listen carefully to me. If not, you're free to go." He said serious.

There was silence for the next few minutes. Thousands of thoughts ran through Sakura's mind. She was sure that no way she would just give up and die. At least not before Sasori will pay. But what could she do? Just listen to this still unknown man and trust him?

As if the man in front of her sensed her inner battles he talked again "This won't be easy. But you are in this situation and you can't just ignore it and move on with your life. I assume you know that." He stated. And he was right. And Sakura knew he was right. Sasori would be looking for her until he will find her and most probably make her endure a painfully death. Just the thought of it made her shudder.

"So what? You saved me as you said and now you care for my well-being?" she gave him a cynical look.

"Don't put words into my mouth, Sakura." He looked at her nonchalantly. "I did save you but I can't and I won't be there to do it again."

Sakura remain silent. She was confused, or more than that. She didn't know what to believe anymore. So this man, who was still a stranger, states that he saved her by taking her to this place, which is still a mystery to her, and now is telling her what in a messed up shit she is into. _Thanks Mr. Obvious._ She already knew that already. She was indeed in deep shit. But the question is.. What does this man want from her? He knew too much and left out of his mouth to little. Can she trust him?

He took a glance at him. He was mysterious, composed, calm and had a strange aura around him that demanded respect and.. fear? She could feel that he is hiding something. And it was obvious after all. You don't just kidnap- or save, whatever, someone without any reason.

"Why do you want to help me?" She looked at him suspicious.

"I have my own reasons for helping you. "And again that expressionless face of his. It drove Sakura mad just how good this man was at concealing his thoughts and emotions. And the fact that apparently everything was unimportant for him. She could literally feel her eye throbbing in frustration.

Sakura is scared to take a decision. She knew what she wanted, that wasn't the problem. The dilemma was.. right in front of her, staring at her expectantly and waiting for her next words. She truly wanted to know those reasons but somehow she was sure he won't tell her.

"I want those responsible for my parents' death to pay." She found herself saying, those words coming out of her mouth before she realized it. There was a rush of anger through her veins. The man nodded and her eyebrows came together. She was still looking in his direction, but her gaze was unfocused. There was a battle held inside her mind and he knew that. So he kept silent, waiting for her next words. "No." she finally said, and the single word came out more like a whisper to herself.

Her head tilted down for a few seconds and when it went up again, her eyes held determination and confidence. It almost made the unknown man smirk. "I want them dead. I want them to suffer then I want them dead." It didn't felt like herself. It felt wrong in some way to let those words out of her mouth. _Dead.. suffer._ The feeling of having her blood boil in anger was something new to words left a bitter taste on Sakura's tongue. But that's what Sasori have been doing to her and her family from the start. So that's what he deserved. If karma wasn't going to get him, she will.

Even if she would have to walk through darkness.. to become the fire. Even if she would hate herself in the end.. she won't give up. She won't stop. Not until she sees that man dead in front of her eyes. She owes that to her parents.

"You-" she stopped, unsure of her question. "How do I know I can trust you?" she asked doubtfully.

"You don't. You let your instinct guide you." She looked at him confused and with wariness, her eyes trying to see beyond his mask. "You should never trust somebody fully." He continued candid.

Sakura was silent once again. _Can I trust him? I don't even know him. What if she will send me right away to Sasori. No.. he wouldn't waste his time with this then. But why- why the hell does he wants to help me?_ She fought with her thoughts trying her best to come up with a decision. Her throat felt sore and her hands started to rub each other as in self consolation. She needed to get a hold of herself. She needed to be strong and determinate. _Be strong Sakura. Remember that that bastard needs to die before he will hurt other people._

"I don't know who the hell are you or why are you helping me-" She started, more confident on herself this time. Her eyes held a glint of bravery and tenacity. "I don't know too fucking much actually." She continued bitterly as the man watched her with interest. "But I do know that I can't do this alone." She licked her lips right after. It was like those words took a lot to let them out of her mouth.

She observed the corner of his lips going up into a smirk. She was a bit taken aback for a second. It was the first crack in his emotionless mask. Sakura found herself stirring in her seat on the couch. She kept wishing she will see some emotion on his face and now that he did show something, she suddenly felt uncomfortable. But it wasn't just that. It woke up some strange feeling in her stomach. She didn't know how to describe it. But somehow, she knew this wasn't the first time she felt like this. It was all a tornado of good and bad feelings. When did she felt like this again?

Her brows furrowed as she tried to find something in the depths of her mind but nothing.

"Good." He simply said as he raised from his seat and walked to the door leaving behind a confused and speechless Sakura. "I have something else to do now but I'll be back in less than a day. There is food in the fridge and you can use the bathroom and the bedroom." He turned his head to look at her stunned frame over his shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid if you really want to leave." And he left.

Sakura was silent and stiff like a rock for a few minutes. Her mind was a tsunami of different thoughts. She couldn't believe that he just left like that.

 _What the FUCK? Are you fucking kidding me?_ She fumed. _He left and didn't even say how he would help me or who the fuck he is. I literally can't_ _believe this!_ _And like hell I'll eat anything from here. It could be poisoned! I can't trust him fully, he was the one who said that after all._ But when she heard a loud protest from her stomach, she thought that maybe she would take that risk after all.

Then reality hit her again and everything that happened to her since she met Sasori flashed in front of her eyes. She couldn't let that bastard live after all he did to her. She would be strong this time but today- today she would let herself be weak for the last time. Her knees bent up to her chest and she hugged them to her chest as hot tears poured down her cheeks. _What did I do to deserve this... why-why me?_ And while she continued to sob, her heart clenching in pain and her whole body shaking she left herself thing that this would be the last time..

TBC

* * *

 **A/N: Finallyyyy! I am really sorry for the late update but you know… I was lazy and tired as fuck everyday so yeah. My bad heh. I'm trying to improve my writing skills so I really hope I did a good job with this chapter. Please REVIEW. Reviews make me happy and happiness makes me write and I really really appreciate it.**

 **Thank you all for still reading this. Love you!**

 **Take a look on my other stories too, pretty please.**

 **Soooo, do you hate me for making this kind of short and because I didn't say who the mysterious man is? Opsi. Until next time…**

 **Xoxo, Adenna.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N : Guess what? I'm back!**

 **Guess what #2 ? I wrote a longer chapter for you! I'm actually thinking about writing longer chapters from now on.**

 **Thank you so much to those who reviewed/followed/favorite this story. Love you guys!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

Sakura was silent and stiff like a rock for a few minutes. Her mind was a tsunami of different thoughts. She couldn't believe that he just left like that.

 _What the FUCK? Are you fucking kidding me?_ She fumed. _He left and didn't even say how he would help me or who the fuck he is. I literally can't believe this! And like hell I'll eat anything from here. It could be poisoned! I can't trust him fully, he was the one who said that after all._ But when she heard a loud protest from her stomach, she thought that maybe she would take that risk after all.

Then reality hit her again and everything that happened to her since she met Sasori flashed in front of her eyes. She couldn't let that bastard live after all he did to her. She would be strong this time but today- today she would let herself be weak for the last time. Her knees bent up to her chest and she hugged them to her chest as hot tears poured down her cheeks. _What did I do to deserve this... why-why me?_ And while she continued to sob, her heart clenching in pain and her whole body shaking she let herself think that this would be the last time..

* * *

 **Chapter 9**

~Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.~

"I'm telling you teme, she will kill me before my child would even be born," said the man on the other line with both fear and amusement in his voice.

Sasuke didn't refrain himself from letting out a snort, "You better take care of her or Neji would kill you before she has the chance."

"Don't remind me of that desperate idiot. He keeps on calling and leaving messages _everyday_. Can't he understand we're perfectly fine?"

Sasuke wasn't surprised to hear that. The Hyuga man may be cold most of the time but he acts like a mother taking care of her little baby when it comes to Hinata and Tenten. Not that those two needed any special protection in his opinion; they could be really dangerous alone anyway. How a man like Neji Hyuga could have come to love so deeply was beyond his understanding. Sure, he understood that Hinata was his cousin and the last blood-related person he had. Tenten on the other hand, had somehow managed to break into his heart. _Weak people_ , he thought. Caring so much for someone would only make you do stupid things.

Naruto too played at a dangerous table. There were people out there who would love to chop to pieces their bodies. Not only one of them and neither others who didn't have a clue what really happens around them were safe. So having a child at such times was a really bad decision. But just try saying that to Hinata and she would slaughter you in a blink of an eye.

"You'll get used to it eventually," he answered plainly. It was not his fault that his best friend just had to fall in love with that crazy woman. More than that, impregnate her too.

"Yeah well it's not like a have a choice; and Hina's mood swings aren't helping either," added Naruto. It wasn't like he wasn't happy; far from that. At the moment, Naruto considered himself the luckiest person on earth- that, leaving aside the bad memories about his past. Hinata made him happy. The little kid growing inside of her made him happy. The sun-kissed man was aware how dangerous was such a situation at such a time. That wouldn't stop him though from both having a family and protecting them.

Sasuke almost pitied the blond. The paled-eyed woman was crazy naturally; adding the mood swings from her pregnancy was really too much for everyone.

"How are things there?" asked Sasuke, knowing that Naruto will understand his question. After all, they never needed too many words to understand each other.

"Actually, it's pretty silent; too silent," said Naruto thoughtful. "Nothing happened around here lately and frankly I don't know if that's a good or a bad sign."

Sasuke kept silent while he thought about what Naruto said. He was right, when things were too good, eventually it will become worse than ever. That means they had to be very careful. "Just keep your eyes wide open. We don't know what they're planning this time," said Sasuke and waited for a few seconds so that his words would sink in before he added, "We haven't found anything too useful yet, but we have _something_ at least. It might get nasty though."

"You guys don't do anything stupid, 'kay?" responded Naruto with worry. "Neji told Hina about what you found. Just think it through twice before doing something."

Sasuke nodded, even if Naruto couldn't see him, and then said, "We'll do what we have to do. Later."

"Yeah, later," responded Naruto and hang up. They didn't have to tell each other to be careful. Just by saying 'later' was their way to reassure each other that they would stay alive and safe until next time. It was their silent vow.

Sasuke placed his phone back into his leather jacket and sighed. Things were pretty tense lately. Akatsuki seemed to plan something big; it was the only reason that they were so silent lately. Those bastards made his life a hell-hole since he was too young to even understand the concept of death.

He thought about the place they finally decided was to be their next meeting spot. But even that wasn't a fact for sure yet. It could mean anything else, of course. They weren't stupid, neither of them. Those heartless criminals planned everything smoothly and perfect. The chances that what they had was just fake information or even more, some dirty trap, were very big. The last thing they want was to step right into a trap like some blind idiots.

The raven-haired man sighed and ran a hand through his dark locks. Might as well go for a drink- in some loud place preferably. Sometimes it feels great to just lose it and don't think about anything else.

* * *

Sakura shivered as a cold breeze hit her body. She hugged her jacket closer but it was in vain; she still felt like freezing. There was a strong wind slamming into everything around her. The pink-haired young woman couldn't stop herself but think that the weather suited her inner turmoil. Her life has become some sort of horror movie with bad jokes. She would have loved to laugh at how much her life changed in a week. Too bad her mouth was too preoccupied trembling uncontrollably. _Why in the name of God does everything work against me?_ she thought, looking around her. There was for sure a storm approaching. The sky was as dark as possible and the cold wind felt like a million knifes cutting through her skin.

"Dammit, have I gone completely insane?" she asked herself aloud. Her feet took small steps deeper into the dark alley while inwardly praying that everything will be alright -which was pretty hard to think. Her petite form shivered again when another invisible force slammed into her, the sound of it reminding Sakura of some old horror movie she saw when she was way too young to watch one. She mentally reminded herself that her parents would have warned her not to go into dark alleys at night. But then again, her parents are _dead_ and that's exactly why she is where she is.

A loud bang made her jump and turn around fast as light just to find a stray cat running fast past her. She let out the breath she didn't realized she'd been holding. _Stupid cat_ , she cursed in her head. She almost had a heart attack. That's what you get when you blindly accept offers and ideas from strangers.

Sakura hasn't decided yet if she miraculously got very fearless or incredible stupid. Might be both as well. Usually very brave people tend to be a little stupid, right?

She stopped and leaned into the wall next to her. _Damn Sakura, you stupid stupid_ stupid _! What the hell did I get myself into?_ she thought just before the sound of several, strong, steps were heard close to her –and with every second they seemed to get closer and closer. Well everything should be fine because she did expected to hear someone coming after all. The problem was that she expected _one_ person. _Just great_ , she thought sarcastically, trying her best not to go completely hysterical.

There were laughs and chats and Sakura stayed unmoved and glued to the wall. If she was lucky – which she highly doubted- maybe the group of what she assumed were a bunch of men will not pass by and just take another route. Or, if that won't happen, at least they could be the good guys. If none of those two were to happen, well then Sakura was sure she was just pretty much fucked.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" suddenly a voice talked and Sakura inwardly cursed. _Why did I go along with this plan again?_

* * *

 **Flashback**

Sakura gave him a look that said something along the line 'are you insane?'. The man was something, for real. After leaving her alone in that _hole_ he called house, he even disappeared for two days. Sakura, left alone and too scared to actually try to escape had nothing else to do than look around the place and try to find out more about the said man. She couldn't say she was surprised when she found absolutely nothing. The man did have mysterious written all over him. So it wasn't like she expected to find anything interesting. What she did found though, was a memory card of everything that was on Sasori's laptop. That was a good start, thought Sakura at first. Expect the fact that if what the mysterious guy said –that the police is corrupted- then it was kind of useless to hold any information against the red-head. _Life is beautiful,_ thought Sakura with a bitter sarcasm.

A throaty cough brought her back to reality and she glared at the man. "So let me see if I got this right," she started while the man gave her a bored look, "You just vanish for two days without a word leaving me here in this _house_ and then come back and expect me to trust you like we are some drinking buddies?"

The man raised his brows at her choice of words and fought back the raise of the corner of his lips. His shoulders raised into an unimpressed shrug.

Sakura felt like breaking his neck. She took a long and deep inhale before she talked again. "Ok, fine, be like that. But you said you're going to help me and you did literally nothing until now." At the look he gave her, she added, "Leaving out of the equation how you saved me or whatever two days ago."

Just when Sakura thought the man has become mute in the days he was out, he talked, "I had some things to take care of." He then eyed the memory card on the small table. His eyes moved to meet hers, "I see you found the memory card."

Sakura eyed the tiny thing too before locking eyes with him again. "If you tried to hide it, just know that you aren't so good at it." She tried to give him a smug look but she almost rolled her eyes when the said man remained unimpressed and still as a statue. _Creep_ , she thought.

"It wasn't my intention to hide it from you. More than that, you'll need it," she said smoothly and Sakura had to remind herself to stay focused. After all, she was sure whoever the mysterious man was, he could seduce God if he wanted to; that, just with a few words and a glance. He sure had some good genes.

"I'm listening," said Sakura patiently. She had waited two days for him so might as well let him talk.

The man sat down in a chair opposite to her and just looked at her for a full minute. To Sakura, he seemed that he wasn't sure what to say, or how to say it or something like that anyways. She wasn't very good at deciphering people but she took his silence as an inner fight.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke, "People are looking for you," he started and that single statement made her stomach twist, "frankly, there isn't really a place you could be truly safe."

He was being honest. Sakura could see that in his eyes and she didn't like it at all. She _needed_ to feel safe. It was everything she wanted for the moment. After everything that happened, she wanted a lot of things. She felt a lot of things. _Safety_ unfortunately was something long lost. And the man in front of her wasn't helpful at all. Her throat constricted and she fought the tears that almost gathered in her emerald eyes. She swallowed hard and nodded.

The man watched her with an intense gaze for a moment before he continued, "I could provide you still place for a while but my presence near you could bring you more trouble than anything else."

Her eyes met his questionably. His words always hid something and she just couldn't stand it anymore. She needed to know everything. Her life has been a lie for too long and then here she is. After everything, things are still kept in shadow from her. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not a good guy either, Sakura," he deadpanned and then went silent, letting her think carefully about his words.

"You're confusing me," her words left her mouth a little too weak and she had to clear her throat before she continued, "You say you're a bad guy then; but, you also want to help me?"

"I did a lot of bad things that I'm not proud of. This time, I believe I can do some good for two people in the same time," he stated and Sakura could have swear she saw a glint of feelings in his eyes; it disappeared a second after.

"Who are you?" she asked instead. The question has been eating her inside out since he abducted her to this place. She thought a lot about it in the past two days and finally got the conclusion that she will take the risk; she will trust him, because it was her best option for the moment. She wasn't stupid. She knew very well that a wrong step could her killed. So that's why she will accept his help, no matter what he will offer her –she will take it. Sakura believed that a name will help her. _His_ name, at least, to feel just a little bit safe around him. Even if just for a short while.

She sensed in the look she gave her that he wasn't too keen to share his name. "Look, you seem to know a lot about me and I know nothing about you. I'm not asking for too much, really. But just know that I'll trust you, be it a good choice or not. It's only normal to ask you for a little trust back," she sighed, hoping she had convinced him with those words. It was the truth anyway, every single word she said. Her body sank more into the couch and she let her head fall softly back.

There was silence again and Sakura's eyes were closed. She landed in her own nightmare. Everything went wrong lately and she just hoped _something_ good _,_ no matter how small, will happen eventually.

"Itachi," he said after a suffocating silence and Sakura's head snap up with wide opened eyes.

"You-" she took a deep breath, " _Uchiha_ Itachi?"

At this Itachi narrowed his eyes. She knew his last name, even if he didn't mention it. Clearly, he never saw him before, because if she did she would have recognized him immediately. So she was somehow familiar just with his name.

* * *

Sakura left out a shaking breath. She didn't know what to expect, really. It was clear by now that she wasn't quite a lucky person. And again, fate had to remind her that. Her head turned in the direction of the voice and mentally cursed.

There were 3 well-built men, tall and most probably drunk. Just her luck. They gave her a full of malice and bad intentions glance.

In her mind, Sakura already worked on a plan. She had to stay around if she wanted her and Itachi's plan to work. But then again, she had absolutely no chance against one of those men, let alone three of them. Just staying there and waiting for the day after wasn't a solution either. It's was very clear what those full of hormones pigs had in mind and she really wasn't keen to see what exactly they had in mind.

 _Fuck,_ she inwardly cursed. Damn be her luck, really. She should have been running like a scared cat by then. Maybe it wasn't too late?

"Look, guys," she started, her feet already taking small steps backwards. Her lips forced a smile before she continued, "I don't want trouble and I'm sure you don't either, ne?"

The three men shared a sided glance and started to laugh. "Oh don't worry, princess, we won't do anything to you," said one of them grinning then licking his lips, he continued, "anything that you won't like, that is."

Sakura didn't waste another second when the three of them made a step towards her. She turned around fast as lightening and sprinted away. It was just after a few feet that a hand grabbed her by the forearm and pushed her against the wall near them.

"Get the fuck away from me, you scumbags!" she yelled, when one of them pinned her with his body. Her body jerked in every direction but in was in vain. The man was muscular and her body was tiny and powerless.

When she tried to yell again, praying that someone will hear her and come to rescue, the man forced his mouth on hers. She immediately felt disgusted as the strong taste and smell of alcohol hit her senses.

 _Get a hold on yourself. Do something!_ A voice shouted over and over again in her mind.

She heard laughter behind her aggressor. "Feisty, aren't we? Just how I like them," snarled another one when Sakura tried to push the man off of her again. Her fists clenched and she bit as hard as she could into the tongue that entered her mouth again.

Her knee came up to hit him right between his legs when the man gasped and took a step back from Sakura. He crumbled down holding his manhood and immediately Sakura made a move to run when a hand came across her face, making her head snap in the opposite direction.

"You bitch!" a hand grabbed her face roughly and Sakura felt tears in her eyes from both pain and bad memories. "You think you're tough?" she heard before she felt another blow into her other cheek. It wasn't a slap this time; it was a hard men's fist that collided with her face and Sakura felt her skin being ripped apart from the strong blow. Her knees went weak under her and she barely managed to hold herself.

She blinked a few times fast, everything blurring in front of her eyes.

 _No.. conscious.. I have to-_ her thoughts were stopped at the sound of material being ripped. Her clothes, she concluded terrified as the cold wind hit her now exposed stomach. Jacket and blouse were now barely hanging on her frozen form. Harsh hands crawled up on her stomach to her bra-covered chest and grabbed her mounds. Her head shook from side to side erratically. She only had enough power to do that.

Everything was going terrible wrong. Not just that her actual plan had been completely destroyed but now Sakura was very closed to being raped and who knows what will happen to her after. The thought made tears brim in her eyes.

 _I'm sorry, mom.. dad.._

Suddenly there was a loud thump as one of the men fell down unconscious. Then a pained cry and another thump.

Sakura tried to register what was going on but her mind was still unfocused and her vision blurry.

The men that assaulted her with his dirty hands was ripped off of her and thrown in the opposite wall before he could turn around to see himself what happened to his fellows. His head hit the wall hard enough to make him fall down like a vegetable.

"Have some sleep, ne?" she distantly heard. Her eyes shut closed and then blinked a few times to regain her vision but she still had problems contemplating what was happening around her.

The pink-haired young woman lost her only support and felt her legs bend and her back rubbed against the hard and cold wall behind her. Her knees hit the floor and a silent gasp left her lips. Air entered and left her lungs shakily.

Two hands grabbed her shoulders and she heard a feminine but in the same time rough voice talk near her. "Hey- alright-" She furrowed her eyebrows trying to understand clearly what the woman said but her headache aggravated more and she hissed in discomfort and pain. One hand shook her shoulder twice, the second time with more force and a few more words registered to her before her lids became heavy and her head fell downwards while consciousness left her. "St-.. awake… hea-.. me?"

* * *

"You have some damn frozen heart, Uchiha," a voice spat.

"Tenten-" another male voice tried to calm her but he was interrupted by the same woman.

"Shut up, Neji!" Tenten snarled back, eyes turning to him just to send him a cold glare, before returning to the said Uchiha. "I didn't know you like this."

"She's not out problem," Sasuke deadpanned, his tone calm and collected, but his eyes narrowed.

Tenten looked at him like she was ready to cut his throat open. "How dare you say such things, you insensitive bastard? I don't fucking care what you think!" her voice filled with venom and hate.

They sat all in their meeting room. Tenten has raised from her seat a while ago, eyes burning into Sasuke's head, hands firmly placed with their palms on the wooden round table. Near her, sitting with his back straight and a hand massaging his temple, sat Neji. He has come to know Tenten very well and he was already sure nobody could change her mind.

Exhaling the smoke out from his lungs, Shikamaru rested his head into his palm, looking bored and interested. But with him, looks could always be deceiving. He was actually listening intently and thinking deeply about every little detail.

"Relax Ten, Sasuke's right, for once," Ino said casually, cracking her fingers and shrugging. She sat plopped into her own chair, a hand playing with a strand of blonde hair; her long legs resting on Shikamaru's, said man leaving her be without so much of a complain.

All Tenten's fury headed to the blonde. "I'll cut you, bitch, and then throw you in the streets!" she hissed.

Ino snorted then grinned at Tenten, "You want to fight?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath his representative, "Troublesome women," and placed his cigar back between his lips.

"That's enough," Sasuke commanded, more pissed then earlier.

Tenten head snapped back to him and her chocolate orbs narrowed even more, if that was even possible. "I am not arguing on this subject. She's staying," she said with a tone of finality in her voice.

"Who said you can choose?" asked Sasuke, with his thin eyebrows raised.

The others in the room almost winced when they heard Tenten's teeth squeak in her mouth. "Oh," she started suddenly, more calm, but everyone knew that she was a bomb ready to explode on the inside, "you think it's the best to just throw her in the streets and let her be the victim of some scumbags?" Sasuke's mouth opened to retort something but Tenten talked again before a word could leave his mouth. "You shut up and listen to me. I won't allow something like that to happen. You have no idea what men out there are capable of. What they do to innocent and powerless girls like her. So yes, I _can_ choose what to do with her, because heartless bastards like you don't have the right to take such decisions," her voice was stentorian and decisive, like daring him to contradict her words.

And Uchiha, being an _Uchiha_ , did just that. He watched her warily for a few seconds, how her breathing came out hoarse and shaky. He sighed and ran a hand through her raven locks. With a smooth movement, he emptied his glass of amber-colored alcoholic drink. "I let you take care of her wounds, bring her here to rest and even wait for her to wake up before actually making her leave," he stated the things he agreed on before, then continued, while he watched the chestnut-head between narrowed eyes, "we can't allow a stranger to stay here. She can be an imposter," he concluded.

Tenten snorted and let out a bitter laugh, "Really Sasuke? Because someone will just stay and let people beat her and almost rape her just to get here and then kill us all," her words came out full of sarcasm. "Are you even listening to yourself?" she asked incredulously as she plopped back down on her chair.

"I vote for her to stay," Kiba joined the conversation, while his hand stroked Akamaru's –his loyal dog- head. "She's actually pretty hot, if you ignore the bruises, that is," he shrugged but clamped his mouth shut when two pairs of eyes shot him a death glare; one of onyx eyes and the other brown.

"If you say another word like that, I'll cut your balls and feed your stupid dog with them," threatened Tenten, glare cold as ice.

Akamaru made a disturbed sound and Kiba patted his head and rolled his eyes; he kept his mouth shut nonetheless.

Ino let out an amused exhale through her nose, then snatched Shikamaru's cigar from his hand to take a drag too. The men with his hair held in a spiky ponytail just sighed and said nothing.

"Both of you are right in a matter of fact," finally Shikamaru spoke and everyone focused his eyes on him. He was the genius after all and his thoughts and words were always taken in consideration. "You forgot anyway that she might have a family waiting for her home right now, probably worrying to no end," he continued matter-of-factly.

Sasuke inwardly flinched. He remembers quite well meeting her not so long ago. What sick games played fate; to meet her again in such circumstances. The pinkette had a bruised cheek that night too. And now him and Tenten found her not too far from where she bumped into him the first time they met. She must have been running like a crazy woman from her husband or abusive family again.

The raven-haired man knew very well that for her, going back to wherever she came from would be probably hell; at least, that's what he thought after seeing her on those streets again. Women like her don't just walk in that part of town, in the middle of the night, without a real reason. He was alerted at first that he might have stepped in the enemy's trap; because meeting her again was too much of a coincidence. Sasuke thought about it over and over again since they brought her to their hidden mansion. She might be a spy in the worst scenario. Then again, who would let themselves be beaten like a rag doll like that if they could handle some danger?

It was quite a surprise for Sasuke to see her again, especially like that. He had some thoughts about her from time to time but he pushed them away fast and then didn't think about her for the whole day. After all, he had more important problems to think of. Naruto had called him again a short while after they talked. Gaara's brother, Kankuro, had been attacked in Sunakagure. They still didn't know who did it so each one of them went alert. Besides that, when Neji found out, he literally freaked out muttering here and there that he will take Tenten with him and go to Suna to take care of Hinata and his unborn nephew. Then hell set loose; Sasuke wanted to punch Hyuuga so hard, that he will be in a coma for a whole year. Tenten _did_ punch him –to which Sasuke was grateful- saying that he was an idiot and that Hinata was perfectly fine.

When the storm passed, Sasuke wanted nothing more just to go to his regular place and drink his head off. Too much has happened lately and he wanted nothing more but to have a day off, without thinking of anything. Tenten, still angry on his beloved Neji after fighting with him, invited herself to go with Sasuke. The Uchiha wasn't too fond to the idea at first but then he knew Tenten needed a drink as much as him and that she won't be annoying. So he just went along with it in the end. On their way to the said loud bar, they found Sakura –he remembered perfectly fine her name- being beaten up and almost raped by some brainless idiots. He didn't even know what to do when he saw her pink hair but Tenten jumped on the men before he even realized; which wasn't really a surprise. The bun-head was the biggest feminist of all times so imagine her rage when she saw those men take advantage of a powerless woman. She had left them unconscious within ten seconds. Sakura fainted soon after that. Then Tenten _ordered_ him, Uchiha Sasuke, to carry her to their mansion so she could take care of her wounds. And him, well he couldn't find himself say no. Once Sakura was out of danger and sleeping in one of their available rooms, the fight has started and the gates to hell opened when Sasuke said they just leave her somewhere after she wakes up.

Inwardly, Sasuke knew that for some unknown reason he wanted to keep her there, but he concluded that was foolish and selfish. What life she had out there, was better than what life they had.

Tenten thought about it for a whole minute while everyone stayed silent then finally she spoke, "I doubt someone with a family will be in the middle of the night in a place like that."

"You don't know that," retorted Shikamaru and he continued before Tenten could throw another objection, "it could be, yes, but nothing is for sure. We'll just have to wait for her to wake up and talk to her. While we can't be one hundred percent sure that her stay here is no threat, she didn't have any weapons on her of any kind," he stopped to lit another cigarette. He dragged in a long inhale and talked after he exhaled the smoke out. "Like I said, we'll talk to her when she wakes up and decide then."

"Fine," Tenten agreed, "but _I'll_ talk to her." At that, nothing said anything.

Sasuke gave her a wary look and she cached it. He knew that Tenten was smart and she saw the look he gave Sakura when he saw her all beaten up. He had met her before, Tenten concluded, but decided to leave that talk for later.

* * *

Sakura woke up with a start, even the dim light in the room made her groan. An unbearable headache pulsated in the back of her head. Her whole face felt sore and at the twitch of her mouth, her lips and cheek stung. The next thing she realized was that she was sitting on something soft and there was a warm blanket over her body. It took her a few seconds to remember what happened to her and when it hit her, her eyes flew open. She immediately regretted the action when her eyes burned and her headache went even stronger.

It was after a few more blinks for accommodation when she felt a hand grabbing hers. She resisted the urge to flinch, but her body tensed. Her eyes looked to her left and locked with a pair of brown ones. There was pity mixed with anger in them, Sakura observed.

She tried to form some words, but her throat felt soar. Gulping down wasn't helpful, neither trying to clear her throat.

Suddenly there was a glass of water in front of her eyes and she looked up to meet the woman's eyes again. She gave her a sympathetic smile, and said, "Drink," she ordered softly. Sakura glanced at the glass that was offered to her and the hand that was holding hers left just to grab a pill and placing it in her palm. "Just a painkiller," she informed at the questioning gaze the pinkette gave her, "it will help you feel a little better. Even so, it will take a while for them to heal," she continued, her well-shaped brows furrowing when her chocolate eyes inspected her bruised face.

Sakura hesitated at first but accepted the pill and the glass in the end. The woman gently helped her raise a little in bed. She took a few gulps, then a bigger one when she took the pill, emptying the whole glass.

"Want some more?" the woman asked again and Sakura didn't raise her eyes to meet hers again. The pity that she saw in them made her stomach contract. She said she will be a stronger person but then she got beaten up to a pulp and almost got raped.

Her head shook slightly and then hissed when every part of her head and face ached.

"Whe-" she started but had to clear her throat before continuing, "where am I?"

"Don't worry, you're safe here," the brunette said, raising from her seat to place the glass from her hand on a table in the other corner of the room.

"Who are you?" asked Sakura next. The woman seemed kind and most probably she helped her last night, but she still wanted to know who her savior was. She fucked up anyways. The whole plan was destroyed.

"Oh, right," the female said more excited this time, and she turned around to face Sakura again, "I'm Tenten," she grinned. "What's your name?" Tenten asked after that, but Sakura didn't have the opportunity to answer.

The door banged open and another person entered, closing the door after him. Sakura's movements were still slow, but her ears registered a smooth voice talking, "Sakura."

Her head slowly turned in the direction from where the voice came –carefully not to aggravate her already strong headache- and her eyes widened. "Sa-Sasuke?"

TBC

* * *

 **A/N: I actually started this a while ago but didn't have the time to actually finish it. My exams are approaching so it will take me some time to update. Wish me luck! Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. Thank you for your patience.**

 **REVIEW, I'll really appreciate if you'll do so. Tell me what you think about this chapter and about the story so far! Thank youuu!**

 **Xoxo, Adenna.**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N : It's so long since I've got time to write and finally, I managed to take a break from studying to write a new chapter. I'm sure some of you thoughts you'll never see the end of this fanfic. You were wroooong! Hehe**

 **Thank you so much to those who reviewed/followed/favorite this story. Love you guys!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

"Whe-" she started but had to clear her throat before continuing, "where am I?"

"Don't worry, you're safe here," the brunette said, raising from her seat to place the glass from her hand on a table in the other corner of the room.

"Who are you?" asked Sakura next. The woman seemed kind and most probably she helped her last night, but she still wanted to know who her savior was. She fucked up anyways. The whole plan was destroyed.

"Oh, right," the female said more excited this time, and she turned around to face Sakura again, "I'm Tenten," she grinned. "What's your name?" Tenten asked after that, but Sakura didn't have the opportunity to answer.

The door banged open and another person entered, closing the door after him. Sakura's movements were still slow, but her ears registered a smooth voice talking, "Sakura."

Her head slowly turned in the direction from where the voice came –carefully not to aggravate her already strong headache- and her eyes widened. "Sa-Sasuke?"

* * *

 **Chapter 10**

~It's beautiful how it all hurts, but we can't find ourselves to give up~

Here he was, after she was sure the plan was ruined; all tall and emanating power and confidence. He looked as gorgeous as the last time she saw him, but this time Sasuke didn't look at all at ease. His gaze was hard and cold, narrowed eyed watching her carefully. Suddenly, Sakura found it harder to breath. She would have like to see a bit of excitement in his eyes, but there was none. It disappointed her a bit, but she tried to push the thought aside. She had more important business for now.

The moment Sasuke met her eyes, he wanted to yell at her; to tell her how stupid she is, how she could have gotten herself killed, how for an unknown reason he felt his blood boil when he saw how her body was covered in bruises again. Why does he always find her in such condition? And why does he even care in the first place? He really wanted to know, but when he opened his mouth, neither of those questions came out.

"Tenten, out," he ordered without moving his eyes from the pinkete who had her eyes on him too. She seemed happy to see him and he didn't like it. But that wasn't all that her body language told him. Sakura was nervous, scared, agitated. Something was off, he concluded.

The brunette didn't move. Her legs stayed put in place, her posture stiff, chocolate eyes glaring. "I said I'll do the talk. I don't trust you with her," she said, giving Sakura a side-glance.

This time, the raven-haired man did move his eyes to her. Sakura almost felt like hiding from him. He wasn't as sweet as he could be in bed. Contrary of her, Tenten stood her ground. Sasuke's cold attitude did nothing to her.

"I need to talk to her, alone," he affirmed. He tried to keep calm because Sasuke couldn't find himself to be mad on Tenten. He knew very well that Tenten would act all protective towards the poor woman. "I won't do anything to her," he reassured.

It seemed like Tenten gave it a second thought before she turned to give a questioning look to Sakura. The wounded woman understood what she was asking without words. Was she ok to be left alone with him? Did she felt safe around him? The answer was no. And for some odd reason she believed that the woman named Tented won't leave her side if she says so. But she needed to talk to him, and it would be better to be alone when they do so. That's what Itachi has told her; and he, being his brother, might be right about that.

"Uhm, you can go," she started weakly. Her whole body was still aching and sore. Even talking felt like a hard action to do. "But thank you." She gave the brunette a half smile.

Tenten nodded once, her expression still serious and unsure, but started to walk towards the door nonetheless. She stopped for a second to give Sasuke a warning glance –which he totally ignored- , before leaving out the door and closing it behind her.

Sakura was sure the air got thick in the room. She was trying to tell herself that all the wounds made it hard for her to breath, but she knew that wasn't the case. She felt so many things at once when he made his way towards the bed she was laying into; attraction, fear, anger. They were all pushing on her chest.

He was silent, and it made Sakura more nervous. His body came into a halt near the wall, leaning into it and just staring at her. No emotion, no readable expression. She felt like being in the same room with Itachi again. And it was understandable; they were brothers after all. Throwing a glance at him, she gulped; the air was still hard to swallow, but she needed to talk.

"Sasu-", she finally got herself to open her mouth but didn't have the chance to even say his name.

"How stupid can you be?" he talked over her and his words hit her like daggers. Very, she wanted to answer; very stupid. All her life was a bunch of stupid actions and decisions. She really hoped this one isn't the same. Even if those thoughts came to her mind, she didn't dare to open her mouth. Instead, she lowered her eyes into her lap where her hands were. All she could do was act like a scared child in front of him now. All the confidence she had last time she met him was gone.

"I told you not to come looking for me. Yet, there you were, getting yourself in trouble because you're a stupid woman who can do what the fuck she's told to do," he talked again. Sakura bit her lip, she wanted to cry so bad. To let everything out, to tell him that it's not what he thinks it is. That she's not just a lovesick teenager searching for another night with him. Yes, she wouldn't deny it; that night, with him.. was special. She felt more alive than she felt for the past years. But that doesn't mean she forgot why she returned there in the first place.

It was a shock, a knife in her heart when Itachi told her who she really spent the night with. He was a bad man, a revenge seeker, someone who doesn't have time to waste on women. Itachi didn't felt like going smooth and nice on her, oh no. He was straight-forward, talking honest and serious. The older Uchiha didn't want to make things easier for her to take in; he wanted to make her understand where she stands, what she has to do and the choices she doesn't have. She appreciated it though; honesty was something she needed after all the lies. And even if it sounded crazy, she believed that Itachi really had good intentions.

Sasuke wasn't a patient man, so when Sakura kept her mouth shut, he exhaled deep through his nostrils before he did something he would regret. He pushed his body off from the wall and started to walk slowly towards the door. Three steps later, he stopped again to glance at her again and said, "You can stay here until your wounds heal, but right after, you go home."

When he was ready to walk away again, she finally found the strength to talk. "I don't have a home. I-"

"Then you'll find one," he retorted, giving her one last cold stare and trying to push his thoughts out his mind. He doesn't care, he doesn't care. He couldn't care. Everywhere was better than there, with him. But what if she is honest, what if she really doesn't have a home? _No_ , he reassured himself. She's just fishing for motives to stay near him. That won't happen. He won't let that happen.

Sakura was desperate. He couldn't leave. She still has to talk to him, about everything. About how she needs his help and how she can help _him_. "Sasuke, wait, please," she pleaded but it was in vain. His steps were slow, like he wasn't quite sure he wanted to leave the room either, but he needed to. He won't let a woman blur his mind. He has more important things to focus on. His hand was on the doorknob, ready to leave her and all she has to say behind, when he heard her talk again. "I talked to your brother," was all she needed to say to stop him dead in his tracks. His body froze. And Sakura's too. She panicked, so she blurt out the only thing that she thought will stop him from leaving; and she was right. But now, seeing him all frozen in place, his hand squeezing the doorknob until his fist went white, she wasn't so sure of her actions anymore.

 _What did she say? What? Itachi? She- no. She couldn't have. I- How? She knows nothing. But how- then how does she know?_ Sasuke felt his blood stop in his veins and his mind twirling like a tornado. His mouth went dry. Then, he moved. His body turned to her in a swift motion and the murderous look in his eyes made Sakura shiver under her blanket.

"What did you say?" he snapped, his words harsh. His feet took him near her bed where he grabbed her face forcefully and made her look at him. Her lips started to tremble, heart beating fast; it was all like a deja-vu. Memories of Sasori grabbing her face and slapping her came to her mind and all she could do was be scared for her life and remain speechless. The violet skin that covered her cheeks stung. She was already hurt and when he didn't get an answer, his hand squeezed her face in order to make her talk. Sakura hissed, tears already gathering in her eyes. "Talk!" he ordered.

"I-", she averted her eyes but he dragged her face closer to his, making her bite her trembling lips to stop a grunt from pain escape her lips again. "Let go, please," she begged, her words barely above a whisper.

Sasuke just narrowed his eyes at her. He was out of control, he knew, but he couldn't stop himself. That's what even the small thought about his bother did to him. "What do you know about my brother?" he hissed at her, ignoring the pain he was inducing her. "Talk!" he repeated.

Sakura wanted to talk, wanted to tell him everything she knew, everything he wanted to know; but she just couldn't. She was in pain, scared, and a trembling mess. No matter how hard she tried to be strong, to talk her mind out, the words won't come out; just small whimpers of pain. It hurt; her wounds, her heart, her head. She needed a break before she'll just crack. "Let. Go!" she pushed herself to yell back at him and he wasn't pleased. Sakura saw it in his eyes. He's gone mad. "Please, Sasu-" but she didn't have the chance to end that sentence.

A hand grabbed Sasuke's and forced it away from her face. Sakura just gritted her teeth as her tears started to fall down her swollen cheeks.

She didn't raise her head, as she broke down into a crying mess, but she heard the voice of the woman from earlier.

"Uchiha, get the _fuck_ out before I kill you right now!" she snapped angrily, eyes full of fire, glaring at him. Sasuke didn't even look at her; his was still focused on the pinkete, that was now crying, eyes still narrowed into slits. All the muscles into his body contracted as his clenched fists trembled near his body. "What the hell gotten into you? I knew it was a bad idea to leave her alone with you," she yelled at him, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and making him look at her. Even Tenten was a bit taken aback when he saw the look into his eyes, but she didn't let that stop her. She has seen him like this a few times and she is not scared of fighting him then and there if she needs to. Brown and black eyes got into a fight of dominance when Tenten talked again, "Get out of here. And don't you dare talk to me until you calmed to fuck down, you piece of shit!"

Sasuke gave Tenten another cold glare before he turned his head to Sakura one more time. "This isn't over," he told her, even though her head was bent down. He knew she heard him and she better believe him. He won't have rest until he makes her talk.

"Yes, it is. Get out," repeated Tenten and Sasuke finally left without another word.

The brunette let out a few ragged breaths. _That stupid cunt. What the fuck is his problem? I'll fucking kill him with my own hands if he lays hands on her again,_ she thought before trying to calm herself. Sakura has seen enough madness alone with Sasuke. She can't be the same with her.

Tenten sat down next to Sakura and placed a hand on her shoulder. Her body was shaking as loud sobs finally escaped her mouth. The brunette circled an arm around her and brought her into an embrace. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-" she stopped. It was too late for apologies now. She took a long breath in. "You're ok, you'll be fine. I won't let him near you again. I promise," she tried to reassure her.

Sakura sobbed a few more times before raising her head to look at Tenten's face and sighed, "I- you don't understand. I need to talk to him. And I want to, but, but he-" she couldn't continue, But Tenten got it very well what she meant. Sasuke is impulsive. If you hit one nerve, he'll go wild. He has grave temperamental issues. Tenten isn't sure what the thing between those two is, but it must be fucked up and important if it got Sasuke acting so crazy.

"I'll talk to him, ok? But he'll need some time to calm down. Can you tell me what happened?" asked Tenten with caution and carefuly not to push her too much.

Sakura looked in her eyes. She seemed sincere and actually really nice. The woman saved her, and has been very caring with her. Maybe she'll help her make this messy situation more bearable; and maybe she'll be able to talk to Sasuke without him snapping at her. She was still in shock after how Sasuke acted. He was like a hungry animal ready to eat a powerless deer. He scared her, more than Sasori ever did, more than Itachi did when he took her. If so, how can he be the one she could trust how Itachi had told her? How, when she made her fear for her life more than anyone?

"Tenten, I-", started Sakura. She really hoped Tenten would understand and help her. Otherwise, she could just die already because that's what will happen to her eventually.

* * *

She had found him in their meeting room along with the others. In front of him, on the table, was an empty glass near a half empty bottle of whiskey and an ashtray full of cigarette butts. Tenten has calmed down since she sent Sasuke out of Sakura's room, but that didn't mean she was less angry with him. He was an idiot, losing control with that poor woman. She tried to understand him, she did; but nothing from his past could excuse his actions.

Every pair of eyes in the room was on her. Tenten was sure that Sasuke won't say a word to them. Probably the others didn't even dare to ask. She saw her beloved knife stuck in the table where she usually sat and took it with a swift motion right before she plopped down on the chair. The tip was turned to Sasuke in a second and the later moved his eyes to her face, unimpressed by her actions.

"You touch her one more time and I'll cut your throat open," she told him, eyes fierce. The others in the room looked between the two of them without a word.

"She's one of them. You should be threatening her, not me," he coldly stated. He seemed to cool down too, but Tenten knew better.

Everyone's eyes went wide in the room, except Sasuke's and Tenten's. "She's not one of them, you idiot."

And for the second time that day, Sasuke lost it. He slammed his fist in the table and glared at Tenten. "You are the idiot one here. _She_ was sent by _Itachi_."

Ino rolled her eyes. _Does everything have to be about that noob?_

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows in surprise. "What? Itachi sent her? Why?" If that was the case, he didn't know what to think of it. Sure, Sasuke doesn't forget to remind them every now and then how Itachi is the bad guy and how he is part of the Akatsuki now; but they never found any proof. He might as well just tell himself that so it would be easier for him to accept that he just left him behind. Shikamaru doesn't put out of the equation how Sasuke might be right, but he can say he believes that one hundred percent. If this woman was sent by Itachi, then she should have some interesting things to say. The genius rubbed his chin. The catch is that she didn't just come there and demand to talk to one of them; she just happened to be on the same road with Tenten and Sasuke, almost raped by some idiots. To plan such thing would be too much even for those from Akatsuki. Or are they that evil? He sighed. It will definitely cause a big scene with Tenten's protectiveness over her and Sasuke's disapproval. "Tenten? Did you talk to her?" asked Shikamaru, after he lit a cigarette and took a drag from it. He really needed it.

"I did," Tenten answered. She didn't like it at all. That girl has been through hell, just like them. She tried to do everything by herself and ended up in a more fucked-up situation.

"What lies did she told you?" asked Sasuke, leaning into his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

"If you would have listened to her and didn't start to yell and _abuse_ her, then maybe you'd have realized she's innocent, asshole," Tenten gritted her teeth. She was still so angry. When nobody said another word, she continued with a calmer tone, "She got dragged into this. Itachi helped her escape from a situation from which she could have ended dead by now. He sent her to us so she could be safe and help each other."

This time it was Neji who talked first, "You mean to say Itachi is a good guy?"

Sasuke scoffed, "Of course not. She's a lying bitch. Who knows what stupidities made Tenten believe."

Tenten refused to fight for once, so she gave Sasuke a glare and continued, "I can't say for sure, but I want to believe so. I thought we'll decide this together," she shrugged her shoulders. She buried her hand in one of her jeans pocket and took out a small memory card; she threw it in front of Shikamaru. "Check this. Sakura said it has everything from Sasori's laptop on it."

The said main raised an eyebrow. "Sasori?"

"I'm about to explain it right now," sighed Tenten.

For the next 20 minutes, Tenten explained everything to them. How she was forced into the marriage with some odd guy, about her parents death, how she discovered that her husband was responsible for everything and all about how she tried to go to the police but Itachi stopped her. Everyone listened with interest, even Sasuke who refused to believe a word.

It wasn't like she truly didn't want to, but it was easier that way. If all that Tenten was saying was true, the woman was really innocent, and he had yelled at her and treated her like she was the one who killed his family. It was everything happening fast; he didn't mean to act that way. But when she said his brother's name, all he could think was how he had sent her to spy on them. How last time they met was just a way to get under his skin, and that thought alone made him go crazy. A strange feeling settled in his stomach and he refused to call it guilt.

Shikamaru inserted the memory card into his laptop and started to search through the files he found. Names. Addresses. More names. Coordinates. Information about different people he knew or not. "This, guys," he started catching everyone's attention, "this is really something. There is information and details about everyone in Akatsuki."

Sasuke's eyes widened and almost flew in front of the laptop. One of the files had 'Uchiha Itachi' written on it. He knew it. It was all bullshit, he was one of them. But then another thought came to his mind. Why would he give all this information if he was indeed one of them? "Click on that one," he told Shikamaru.

The later clicked on the file and.. nothing. The folder was empty. _Fuck!_

"If I have to guess, Itachi deleted everything in his file. Still strange that he left the file with his name on it. He could have deleted it too." Shikamaru leaned more into his chair, a finger tapping on his chin. "Still, there's more than we can ask for, for now. I'll look more into it and call you when I'm done."

"What about _her_? We're just gonna trust her?" asked Ino, with her eyes on Shikamaru.

"She's harmless. If you ask me, maybe too harmless. We might even need to teach her a few things," it was Tenten who answered. "For now, leave her alone. She's sleeping and she clearly had enough for one day." Her eyes set on Sasuke for a moment before leaving the room.

Sasuke was ready to do the same. He had a lot to process too. If Sakura was to stay with them, everything will go downhill. Even the thought made him want to punch someone. Not to mention everything Tenten told them about Itachi. Did he really save Sakura and just decided to send her to them with all this information? _To also keep her safe, Tenten said. But that is completely stupid. Nobody is safe with us. Then again, if all that shit happened to her, she might be safer here than anywhere else. Plus Tenten would kill even us for her, ugh._

"Hey, Sasuke," Ino bought Sasuke back from his thoughts, "Did you fuck her?" Her grin was big; wild and crazy-like just like her. How did she even got to the that conclusion? The blonde seriously had a good eye. Tenten realized something was off even before she talked to Sakura. Maybe Ino wasn't less smart. Anyways, he wasn't going to answer to that. It was none of her business after all. So he just left the room without another word.

* * *

He went outside. The cool air will hopefully help him clear his thoughts. First time she met her, he thought about it; about taking her with him and take care of her, protect her from whoever did that to her. Sasuke knew that wasn't possible; but now? Now she was there, in their house, probably crying her heart out because of him. God he was an idiot. He sat down on the grass and rubbed his temples. He was also mad on Itachi. His brother decided to just push her to them with some information and a 'take care of her' word? What about him? Wasn't he important? Did he have other plans and nobody knew? What was going on?

Suddently, someone sat next to him. He turned his head to see Tenten looking straight into his eyes. She was still angry on him, that he could see, but nonetheless much calm. He waited for her to talk and turned his head in front of him.

"Sasuke, you need to fix this?" she started after a few minutes.

"Fix what?" Of course he knew what; he just hoped Tenten would give him another answer.

"Sakura.. Look, I know there's something between you two and I know how easily you can go all crazy when it comes to Itachi." She shut her mouth when his body became stiff. A few seconds later, he turned to face her.

Tenten took his silence as a sign that she can continue. "She's something else. Innocent and fragile and she just discovered this dark part of the world… You know how that is, when the truth hits you in the face."

They looked in each other's eyes. Sasuke and Tenten always got together well. She somehow always understood. Always knew when to talk and when to shut up. That's why the brunette was always the one who would come and talk to him about sensitive matters. That didn't happened too often though.

"What do you want me to do? Apologize?" he scoffed. "She's probably terrified to even look at me."

"Yes, she is," Tented admitted, "but she cares. I can see that. And for the first time in a while, I can see that you do to," she smirked.

"That's not true," he turned his face again, afraid that Tenten would see into his eyes what even he didn't want to admit to himself.

"Of course," she mocked him. Then, with a serious voice, she continued, "She has a message for you." At her words, Sasuke's attention was all on her. _Message? For me? Is it from Itachi?_ _Does he really trust Sakura to pass a message to him?_ "I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone because Sakura told me it's meant only for you. But just so you know, I'm still thinking if I can let you near her alone."

She pushed herself up while Sasuke remained speechless on the grass. _She still wants to talk to me? Alone too?_

As Tenten started to walk away, her last words kept Sasuke up all night. "Don't fuck this up Sasuke. You finally have a chance to find the truth about Itachi and have a bit of light in your life."

* * *

TBC

 **A/N: I'm sure you expected a longer chapter after my looong break from writing but I am so caught up with studying that I barely made time to write this. I'm sorry and I hope you understand. I'll do my best to write longer chapters from now on. Hopefully.**

 **Thank you to everyone who's still following this and supports me every time I upload a new chapter. It means truly a lot to me.**

 **REVIEW, I'll really appreciate if you do so. Your opinions matter to me and it might just make me update more often. Thank youuu!**

 **Xoxo, Adenna.**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N : It's so long since I've got time to write and finally, I managed to take a break from everything to write a new chapter. I'm sure some of you thoughts you'll never see the end of this fanfic. You were wroooong! Hehe**

 **Ps: I actually wrote on this for months! You heard me right,** _ **months**_ **. A bit now, a bit later and so on. Thank God is finally done.**

 **Thank you so much to those who reviewed/followed/favorite this story. Love you guys!**

 **Disclaimer** : I do NOT own Naruto, or the picture chosen for this story.

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **In love with a criminal**

 **Last time:**

"What do you want me to do? Apologize?" he scoffed. "She's probably terrified to even look at me."

"Yes, she is," Tented admitted, "but she cares. I can see that. And for the first time in a while, I can see that you do to," she smirked.

"That's not true," he turned his face again, afraid that Tenten would see into his eyes what even he didn't want to admit to himself.

"Of course," she mocked him. Then, with a serious voice, she continued, "She has a message for you." At her words, Sasuke's attention was all on her. _Message? For me? Is it from Itachi?_ _Does he really trust Sakura to pass a message to him?_ "I didn't want to tell you in front of everyone because Sakura told me it's meant only for you. But just so you know, I'm still thinking if I can let you near her alone."

She pushed herself up while Sasuke remained speechless on the grass. _She still wants to talk to me? Alone too?_

As Tenten started to walk away, her last words kept Sasuke up all night. "Don't fuck this up Sasuke. You finally have a chance to find the truth about Itachi and have a bit of light in your life."

* * *

 **Chapter 11**

* * *

 **He was burning inside out**

 **but she tamed all of his flames**

 **with a single touch.**

* * *

The silence was deafening and it made Sakura even more anxious. Tenten had woken her up in the morning, kindly asked her how she feels and gave her another pain-killer before showing her the way to the bathroom. She had taken her time in the shower, trying to relax even a bit, to clear her thoughts. Unfortunately, it didn't matter how much she left the hot water pour down on her, her mind was still messy. Sakura knew it was time to talk to Sasuke in private. She won't lie to herself, she was scared, terrified even. She wasn't ready for another fight; even so, Sakura knew it was better sooner than later.

Tenten had asked her at least four times if she was sure about talking to Sasuke alone and as much as her mind repeated the word 'no' in her head over and over again, she nodded her head and forced out an affirmative answer. The brunette wasn't convinced but she gave up after another try. It couldn't be postponed. The only friendly face was gone and she was left waiting in her room, the fear and her own thoughts eating her alive.

She couldn't do it. Her hands pulled into fist to stop their trembling, only to make Sakura realize how sweaty they were. She couldn't do it. The knot in her throat refused to go no matter how many times she swallowed. He can't be trusted, not after how she touched her, how his words cut into her skin like daggers. Sasuke was dangerous, she admitted to herself glancing at the door one more time. It didn't move since Tenten left to find Sasuke and she didn't know if she can stand the silence any longer.

Her hands unclenched and Sakura put them steady on each side of her, ready to push herself up and leave. Where, she didn't know. She just needed to leave, the wait was over-

The doors cracked open agonizing slow, the motion taking her attention and stopping the air in her lungs. Dark orbs caught her emerald ones and she was freezing on spot, arms fisting the mattress until they were trembling. The air finally left her body shakily when he closed the door behind him. There was hesitation in everything he did; his eyes searched for a spot as far as possible from Sakura, his steps were slow and lips sealed. Sakura hated it, like she hated the angry version of him.

He leaned into the wall opposite from her, a few steps away from the door and closed his eyes for a few moments. Sakura mentally cursed for letting herself pay attention to his whole being. His body was rigid, chest rising so slow that it felt like he's stopping the time with his own breathing. He is handsome, with perfect features -just like his brother. And that reminded her of why she is seeing him again, why he has opened his eyes and looked at her the way he did. This is not the man of her dreams. All those moments at that bar, their night together, the kisses, touching, the way his lips moved on her-

"Sakura."

Her shoulders jumped up and she blinked away her thoughts. His voice didn't let any emotion out, neither did his eyes. They were just burning into her skull making Sakura shiver under his strong gaze.

"I'm sorry." The words were said so hushed he almost missed them.

Sasuke was surprised and his face let Sakura know it before he composed himself, unreadable mask back on.

"Why?" He doesn't have to say more, his hard tone is enough for Sakura to understand. Why is she in this situation? Why does she know Itachi? Why is she there? Why did they have to see each other again in such circumstances? Just why is fate so sick and hard on them?

"I- I'm sorry." Emerald eyes shine with tears and as much as she tried to push them back, she loses the fight. "I didn't want this to happen and I didn't want to do this. I knew it was a bad idea but he said-"

"Who?" Sasuke's fingers twitched but he didn't even want to think why. The urge to just break something came back even before Sakura opened her mouth again because he knew the answer; he knew who is responsible everytime his life gets more fucked up.

"You-your brother," she shuttered.

Sakura can only hear her own heart beating. Last time she used those words, Sasuke lost it. Fingers fidget with the hem of her white shirt Tenten gave her, eyes watching carefully her companion.

A long sigh escaped thin lips and a hand came down his face. Sakura guessed that he's doing his best to stay put, keep his anger in leash.

With hesitation, she continued. "He helped me. I don't know why. Then he made up this plan to meet you again. It went wrong, I shouldn't have accepted it. Those guys.. if you and Tenten didn't show up then..then-" she stopped a few seconds to control her sobs. To her surprise, Sasuke didn't make a move. It made her sad to see how unaffected by her tears he is, but pity isn't something she needed then. "I don't want to die Sasuke," Sakura started again after composing herself, "and I was scared. Itachi told me you guys are my only chance. I had to try. I'm so sorry if I am a burden but I'll do my best, I promise I'll do anything you ask me to. I just- I just want to help. I want to see them pay."

He's silent for a very long moment and Sakura inwardly asked herself if she should add more words, but choses against it. It's his time to talk and if he wants to know more from her, he needs to say at least something. Those dark endless orbs have watched her for too long without a word being said. She needed him to say something; call her a liar, a needy bitch, anything.

"What is the message, Sakura?" his voice is strong, just like the muscles contracting on his bones, as he moved his feet to her. She watched him with wide eyes, fear already rising in her throat and making it hard for her to breath. Sakura felt the need to run away like a scared cat but her feet were frozen in place, the air wasn't enough anymore and before she knew it, Sasuke is crunched in front of her. "Sakura." For the first time since she got there, she can see something else in his eyes and she had seen that look before. When he touched her bruised cheek the night they met. Only this time, he's the one responsible for it and she can almost see the regret into his eyes.

When his mouth open, it made Sakura think of all the times he kissed her skin with them that night, but no apology comes out. She doesn't know why she expected one.

"What's his message?" he repeated the question with narrowed eyes.

Sakura gulps her fear down before answering. "He wants you to know that one day you'll understand. And that he's happy you found friends and strength to move forward. He-he said he's… proud."

His jaw clenched hard, eyes shut and he's close. Close for her mind to replay events from not long ago, from when his jaw was clenched from pleasure and she shook her head the slightest. It was not the moment to think of that.

When his eyes open, it's the same look from last night and she found her lips trembling. Her heart felt like it stopped beating in her chest. "Sasu-"

"Did he say anything else?" his words were full of hatred and it makes her wince.

"N-no."

He's shading over her in a beat, his back already turning to her, feet making their way to the door.

"Sasuke.." he stops but doesn't face her. "I.. the note you left, what-"

He interrupted her before she could finish her question. "I'm not your hero, and nobody here is. You're not going to get special treatment; I'll make sure of that. And Sakura," he turned his head enough to look at her over his shoulder with cold eyes, "it won't happen again so stay away from me." With those words said, he was gone.

Sakura was still watching the place where he was a moment ago. _Stay away from him_.. _He doesn't want me near him.._ She didn't expect him to jump and kiss her, ask her to forgive him; but neither did she expect him to tell her to stay away. For some reason, it hurt, so when Tenten came back, she's a sobbing, trembling mess.

After sobbing her heart out in Tenten's arms and reassuring the brunette that Sasuke hasn't done anything to her, she tried to pull herself together. She looked at herself in the mirror, her reflection making Sakura's stomach clench. She was sick of seeing swollen eyes, trembling lips and hands and dammit, her whole body was trembling again. There were a lot of feelings flowing together but she only felt one the most –disgust. How could she have fallen so low in life? She's not even able to hold herself together, let aside go and do something, anything. The woman in the mirror was mocking her, showing her how weak she was, pushing to the surface all her flaws and mistakes and they all look like her.

She didn't know why, or how she got herself to do it, but her cheek stung like fire on open wound. Her lips twitched into a snarl and angry eyes glared back at her. She slapped herself; hard. Her other hand was clenched at her side, and she raised the one she used a moment before in front of her eyes. She'd rather die than act all weak and useless again. Sakura knew that she needed to get a hold on herself, and stop whining about her life. What happened, happened. It was time to do something about it. That fucker Sasori will pay; that one thing she needed to be sure of. The other hand clenched too. She will learn to fight and protect herself.

Tenten had given her direction to where they would be waiting for her. She closed the bathroom's door, the cool metal feeling good on her aching palm, and started to walk. Her spine was straight, her gaze strong and her steps steady and confident. Maybe she wasn't with Sasori or with those other criminals, but she still wasn't one hundred percent safe. Those people that were waiting for her right then, they were all dangerous too. If she walks in looking like a damsel in distress, they will give her the same disgusted look she gave herself a moment ago. She couldn't let that happen.

She took two deep breaths when she found the door she was looking for. Most probably all had seen her all beaten up when Tenten and Sasuke brought her there. Now, she was ready to look like she was the one about to deliver punches. She pushed her chest up and tried to ignore the way her heart pulsated against her ribcage. The door opened and she urged her steps forward.

In a second, all eyes were on her, and she could feel the confidence she tried so hard to gather slip between her fingers. She ignored the stares, focusing on an invisible point on the opposite wall and sank her nails into her palm. It hurt. Good; that's what she needed to remind herself what she needed to do. Her eyes glanced over everyone in the room quickly, trying to tell herself Sasuke's eyes weren't on her red cheek.

"Hi," she said, blurting out the word like it hurt on its way out.

Tenten stayed silent near Neji, her face worried. The Hyuga looked at her cheek then at her fisted hands and spoke his mind without a second thought. "You hit yourself?"

Sakura gulped down the saliva in her mouth, looked at Tenten, then at Sasuke, then back at the man who spoke. "It doesn't matter," she said, feeling suddenly more powerful. "I am sorry for intruding, and for my weakness. I don't know how much Tenten had told you, or if you believed a word but… I'd like if you could listen to what I have to say.

She felt a fire inside her like never before. It burnt the veins in her body and it made her angry, furious. Nobody said anything or even moved, so she took it as a sign that she can continue.

"I've made grave mistakes, I've put myself in this situation and I don't expect anyone to come and rescue me; but you did. I am really forever in debt to you." She sent a small smile towards Tenten. "My enemy is your enemy. I don't expect you to trust me but I can help. I lived with Sasori and met a few of his acquaintances. Maybe it's not much but I'm willing to do everything in my power to help you take them down." She stopped, scared that her voice will crack soon as memories of her parents flew in front of her eyes. Inhaling then letting out a deep breath, she tried to compose herself at enough to continue her speech. "That fucker killed my parents," she blurted out, her voice venomous but the pain still obvious, "And I know for sure he wants my head too, now. I want nothing more than to make him pay for everything he did. You can either believe me, or throw me out. But I won't accept being killed by any of you," she continued calm, looking each and every one in the room, her eyes lingering more than a second on Sasuke. He wore his unexpressive mask too well; she couldn't read a single emotion on his face. "If I have to die, so be it, but I will take that monster with me."

Everyone exchange glances besides Ino. She's first to get up from beside Shikamaru, the man watching her carefully as she walks towards the pinkette. Her long manicured fingers graze over her pink locks, as she circles around her like a feline. Sakura's throat tightened. She watched Ino's eyes from growing wide to narrowed and back to wide, those blue eyes creeping her out. The blonde looked insane and she mentally asked herself if she wasn't safer in Sasuke's hands.

"I say she can be helpful but she looks quite weak and clearly inexperienced with weapons or even bare hands fighting, " she talked finally, her voice amused and cocky, stopping in front of a frozen Sakura. Then the blonde stopped, looked Sakura dead in her eyes and punched her; in the same cheek she slapped herself earlier.

Her head shot to the side, pink hair flowing over her face and her eyes stung instantly with tears. When she raised her head, she's proud. She hasn't stumbled on her feet, so she won't give the bitch the satisfaction to see her cry. Tenten hand was gripping Ino by the front of her shirt in a second. The blonde didn't even acknowledge the brunette, her eyes glued on Sakura.

Sakura placed her hand on Tenten shoulder. "Let her go," she whispered. The woman looked back at her surprised but not convinced at all of her request.

"She's gonna beat the crap out of you, Sakura. Stay behind," she ordered but the pinkette didn't listen.

Emerald eyes clashed back with baby-blue ones and she snarled at the blonde. "Feeling damn proud that you hit me? Sasori hit me, those bastards in the street hit me, _I_ hit me, _bitch_. So maybe yes, I am weak but I recommend you try something more original, because I'm quite used to punches by now. You probably fought a lot too, all of you but I didn't. I haven't stepped off the easy road until now and I am ashamed of myself for that… but I will do better for once. So hit me as much as you want, I am not afraid of you." She was angry, and aware of the surprised glances she was getting, but tried to ignore them all; the pain, the feeling of being useless and weak all the time, her broken heart, her parents death, Sasori and his gang… _everything,_ besides the burning desire in her soul to be strong for once.

If Ino's sudden laughter had surprised her companions, they didn't show it, but she let her lips part in full confusion. Her mind commanded her to run for her life because _nobody_ laughs like that. It was dark, loud and unsettling. "Definitely keep her. She can be badass too," she crocked a wide grin towards Sakura, "I like it."

Sakura was at loss of words. What was she to even say? The blonde had punched her and then she _likes_ her? Had she jumped from Sasori's grasp right into a cave of psychos?

"That's enough, Ino," Shikamaru sighed, his expression somewhat appearing to be tired of all the fighting, even though Sakura couldn't tell for sure. Ino shrugged her shoulders and turned around to sit down back on her place, but not before sending her another grin. "Sakura," he then said, keen eyes moving to her, "can you tell us why Akatsuki wanted you?"

Realizing what exactly the man asked, she let her eyes fall unto him. He didn't seem as crazy as the blond and neither dangerous as Sasuke. With a deep breath, she caught Tenten's supportive glance, making her more confident to talk. Her eyes fell on Shikamaru again. "At first I didn't quite understand either. It just… seemed too good for me to ask questions at that time. But I thought a lot about it since I met…" she drawls the words, eyes flying to Sasuke, unsure if he would snap again, but finally decided to continue, "Uchiha Itachi." She could feel Sasuke's dark stare on her but she was grateful that at least he didn't jump to her throat. "After he told me his last name I felt like I've heard the name before. It took me a while but then I remembered. My father worked at the police department before he got fired. It's a blurry memory to be honest, but before all that, there was this case he was working on and I've seen the name Uchiha a few times when I used to sneak into my father's office."

All eyes in the room fell on the dark-haired man, as the man composure was hard to read. His eyes were narrowed in Sakura's direction but it was like he was looking through her, hands pulled in tight fists and lips sealed into a straight line.

"He was working one the Uchiha massacre case?" Neji was the first one to move his eyes away from Sasuke, eyeing Sakura with a combination of skepticism and surprise. "But the case had been sealed days after the event."

Sakura nodded her head slightly, dragging her eyes away from Sasuke as well just as he blinked rapidly a few times, seemingly coming back into present. "I.. I don't for sure and this is just an assumption but it could explain everything."

"Go on," Neji urged her, his expression calm but eyes stormy and stern.

"As you said, if the case had been sealed days after, I think my father didn't quit on it. I was young on that time, barely a kid, but I always knew my father was a good man that tried to bring justice to everyone," Sakura started with her explanation when Shikamaru talked.

"You think your father was investigating the case on his own?" The look the genius sent her unreadable but he was clearly taken slightly aback about that information. She swallowed hard, throat dry and hurtful, knowing that doing such a thing was as stupid as it sounded. Even so, Sakura respected her father to no end. He was kind and hard-working. Her parents didn't deserve such death.

"I believe so, yes. No other files from work had been brought back home by him ever, besides those ones. He used to lock them in a drawer, in his office, and tell me how nobody can know about it. Then, one day, he suddenly got fired. I assume now that the police department found out. Soon after, Sasori and his parents came to us. If my suspicion is right, I think they knew about what my dad was doing and feigned a marriage propose, one that looked good enough to help my family. If only I knew then that it was just an act…"

"I still don't understand why would they do that," huffed Ino, crossing her arms over her chest in frustration of not understanding where Sakura was going with her rambling.

"As I expected from a stupid blonde like you," Tenten rolled her eyes, ignoring Ino's death glare and eyeing Sakura with a soft look on her face, but there hardness in her chocolate orbs still present. "The bastard had something to do with the massacre, the whole Akatsuki I mean, like Sasuke assumed. The police in Konoha is corrupted which means that if they found out about your father's investigation behind their back, so did the Akatsuki."

"Then instead of killing him on spot, they decided to take you as a warning for him to stop with the investigation," continued Shikamaru, scratching his chin, "They probably wanted to know exactly what the man found out about them before doing anything and when they did, or didn't, nothing stopped them from killing him."

Sakura's head hanged low, listening with a deep pain in her heart. Hearing her terrible past through their words made her feel all weak again, chest constricting painfully as flashbacks ran in front of her eyes. "Sasori probably kept me alive in case father told me something," she whispered, her voice barely audible.

"That doesn't make sense one hundred percent," Shikamaru debated, "Wouldn't it have been safer for them to just kill you, even if you knew something? What did it matter to them to keep you alive?" he spoke his thoughts aloud, a long sigh escaping his lips before he snatched a cigarette out from his pack.

Sakura had thought about it and at first it didn't made sense for her either. But then there were a few things about Sasori's behavior towards her that she strongly tried to forget. "Sasori," she starts, raising her head and taking everyone's attention again, "he is a murderer and a cruel man indeed but… there's so much more of him." Her eyes started to stung and she clenched her fists as hard as she could, trying to keep the tears from falling. She didn't want to look weak ever again.

"Sakura," Tenten's smoothening voice rang gently into her ears and she gave the brunette a small, tired smile, telling her that she will be fine. Or that's what she hopes, anyway.

"He is a creep, a sick man," she said between gritted teeth, eyes focusing on an invisible point on the table, "he called me unique and special. We never shared a bedroom but sometimes I would woke up in the middle of the night, feeling those heartless, insane eyes on me. I never dared to open my eyes, too scared that he would do something if he were to know I wasn't asleep. I-," with voice starting to crack again, she swallowed the lump in her throat and urged herself to continue after taking a deep breath, "He whispered to me in those nights… things like how I am a doll, or how one day he'll make me even more beautiful. I didn't know what to think of those words, I just know they creped me out. Then I realized how sick his mind was when I found some paintings of me… in them, I always had bruises and cuts painted on me, a lot of red and even with me na-naked and chest cut ope-" her whole body started to shake furiously, cheeks a cascade of tears she didn't know when they started to fall. She really tried to ignore those memories, making herself believe it was nothing serious or just some kind of vulgar art she doesn't understand. If she were to let her mind wander further, she would have gone mad a long time ago with such an insane person in her house.

Her head snapped up at the sound of a chair screeching on the floor, wood angrily rubbing against wood. Sasuke's face was dark, eyes hooded in pure madness and lips curled into a dangerous snarl when he stormed past her, steps hard and loud on the floor, slamming the door shut after him.

An unsettling silence fell, Sasuke's dark aura still flowing in the air. Sakura's eyes grew wide at his sudden outburst, not knowing what to think of it and then she couldn't muffle her sobs anymore. When Tenten wrapped her arms around her, she didn't comprehend what the brunette was whispering to her. The pressure of fear, hate and weakness pushed too strong on her chest, Sasori's evil smirk entering her mind and all she could do was fall to her knees in a complete mess.

* * *

Sasuke felt many feelings rushing through his body as he punched the bag with sand full force, ignoring the pain in his joints and fingers. He didn't even know what angered him the most. Those bastards killed his whole clan. Itachi left him alone. His own damn brother reached out to some random woman instead of him.

He threw another punch, sweat forming on his temples. His legs had carried him straight to their training room, the urge to punch something overwhelming to the point of making him go mad. Hand raised, he kicked the sack with all his might again, skin almost breaking from the impact.

Sakura… that woman just appeared into his life, getting his friend's trust and pity like the little weak girl that she was. How dare she start crying in front of them like that, like she's the only one who ever suffered? And most importantly, why did his stomach twist into knots when she had told them about Sasori's sick hobbies? It made him so furious. That piece of shit didn't get enough satisfaction from killing people to his liking, but felt the need to be even more sadistic? Sakura was innocent; a simple girl that for sure had a normal life, dreams and hopes. _That_ , before them; before they ripped everything away from her like they did to him.

Sakura's bruised cheek from the night he met her flashed in front of his eyes and he groaned angrily, fist raised and ready for another blow but he froze. A pair of small arms circled around him from behind, making his breath stop in his lungs for a short moment before clenching his fists even tighter.

"Stop, you're hurting yourself." That voice… that stupid soft voice that was supposed to be cheerful and happy, not mixed with terror and regrets.

"Let go of me, Sakura," he ordered, voice sharp as knifes, muscled bulging violently under her petite hands. She didn't move an inch though and the anger inside him flared. "Get the fuck out of here!" he spat with venom, but he didn't dare to touch her. He didn't want to risk hurting her in his state of blurred mind.

What was he even doing there? Couldn't she see that he lost it? Did she want to die by his hands, pour more guilt over him?

"No," she whispered, her hot breath hovering like feather over his back skin. Sakura let go of him but only to step around him, placing herself between him and the punching bag. "Stop."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, heart beating hard against his ribcage but he refused to look at her. He knew very well what he would see; _fear_. Her breath was ragged and he could sense the trembling of her body. She was scared so why did she go after him? What was going on in her mind?

"You're bleeding," she said and his eyes snapped to where her hands held his gently. He didn't even realize that he had managed to rip his skin open.

"Let go, Sakura," he uttered, his tone aggressive and low. His anger didn't subside and he knew himself too well; he was extremely dangerous at the moment. Too dangerous to have such a stupid, fragile woman hold his hands like that.

"No." The sudden change in her voice's tone made his eyes snap to her face, jade eyes looking up at him with determination and… something he couldn't understand. Her lips were pulled in a serious line, her brows furrowed in.. worry? There was not on drop of fear on her face, even after she had witnessed him losing it for the second time.

She sighed, deep and tiredly, his blood leaking between his fingers and unto her hands but she didn't seem to pay attention to it. Instead she kept her eyes locked with his, blocking him in some kind of trance. "Please don't hurt yourself. We'll get them. We'll make them pay for what they did. Just please, calm down. _Please_."

Sasuke looked down at her with wide eyes. The confidence in her words, as if she was so sure of what she had said. Her big, puffy emerald eyes sparkling with worry, tears already dried. Her small, warm hands clutching on his bleeding ones like she was trying to keep him down to earth. Then she smiled up at him, a small, exhausted one, but it exorcised all his anger away in the blink of an eyes.

Sakura was an angel, with such a pure and rare heart. She was different in some weird way that Sasuke couldn't understand. He wanted to say something, to open his mouth and tell her he will keep her safe; that Sasori won't ever touch her again. But was she even safe around him? His hatred had made him a monster. How could he promise her that he would keep her safe when he was drowning in his own nightmare?

He blinked surprised when she squeezed his hands the slightest, her smile weak but still present, before letting his arms fall back down beside his body.

"I'll ask Tenten for some bandages," she only said weakly, before disappearing from his vision like a ghost.

Sasuke wasn't capable to comprehend what happened, or he just didn't want to believe it. He raised his hands, staring blankly at the blood on them, Sakura's gentle and warm touch lingering on his skin. His heart was racing wild in his chest but not like he stormed out of the room earlier. It was… different. Something stirred inside him and he didn't like it, at all.

* * *

 **A/N: This is it! Sasukeee, what are those feelings hmm?**

 **Sakura is badass, just sayin'.**

 **Reviews are always loved, appreciated and taken into consideration.**

 **Exams are coming soon. The only thing I'm bragging all day in here, I know. Pray for my mind and soul. I do hope I'll manage to update sooner than later.**

 **Until next time,**

 **Xoxo, Adenna.**


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